REMINISCENCES 


OF  AN  INTERCOURSE  WITH 


MR.  NIEBUHR  THE  HISTORIAN, 


DURING  A  RESIDENCE  WITH  HIM  IN  ROME,  IN  THE 
YEARS  1822  AND  1823. 


BY  FRANCIS  LIEBER, 

PROFESSOR  OF  HISTORY  AND  POLITICAL  ECONOMY  IN  SOUTH 
CAROLINA  COLLEGE. 


CAREY, 


PHILADELPHIA: 

LEA  &  BLANCHARD. 
1835. 


3Ent0rC)J,  according-  to  the 'Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year 
1835,  by  Carey,  Lea  &  Blanchard,  in  tlie  Clerk's  Office  of  the 
District  Court  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


TO  MRS.  AUSTIN,  OF  LONDON. 


My  dear  Madam, 

The  contents  of  this  snaall  volume  were  gather- 
ed in  Italy,  and  put  together,  to  form  a  book,  in 
America.    In  sending  the   manuscript  across  the 
Atlantic,  I  feel  as  if  I  should  not  allow  it  to  appear 
in  your  country  as  an  unbefriended  stranger:  and 
if  I  desire  any  friend  in  England  for  my  book, 
whose  good  favours  could  I  be  more  anxious  to 
obtain  than  yours.  Madam?    You  have  become 
the  interpreter  of  German  literature  to  the  English 
nation  and  their  brethren  in  the  Western  hemi- 
sphere ;  and  you  revere  with  me  the  name  of  that 
man  to  whose  memory  the  following  pages  are 
dedicated.     Nor    can  I  forget    that   I   had  the 
great  good  fortune  of  being  instrumental  in  making 
you  acquainted  with  him. 

Receive  then,  my  dear  Madam,  this  little  work 
with  kindness.  A  better  mark  of  my  remem- 
brance it  was  not  in  my  power  to  send  you  :  I 
could  not  have  graced  with  your  name  any  pages 


iv 

dearer  to  me, — though  painfully  dear,  I  own. 
When  I  again  looked  over  my  journals  kept  in 
Rome,  in  order  to  collect  the  contents  of  these 
pages — those  leaves  vs^ritten  in  the  greatest  of  cities, 
and  under  the  roof  of  my  best  friend,  now  perused 
in  distant  America,  ffe  dead  and  I  an  exile! — I 
felt  as  if  I  walked  through  an  Italian  garden, 
charming  indeed,  with  perfuming  flowers,  and 
lovely  alleys  and  fountains,  with  the  luxuriant 
trees  of  the  South  in  blossom — the  fragrant  orange 
and  the  glowing  pomegranate,  and  with  vistas,  far 
and  wide,  to  the  distant  deep  blue  mountains  ; 
but  I  felt,  too,  as  if  I  walked  alone  in  it  :  with  all 
these  joyous  colours  of  bright  spring  around  me, 
and  the  cloudless  azure  vault  above,  I  felt  the 
grief  of  loneliness,  and  every  spot  reminded  me 
of  him,  and  what  I  owe  to  him.  How  continually 
does  human  life  force  upon  our  minds  Goethe's 
lines  of  painful  truth — 

"  Ihr  nalit  each  wieder,  schwankende  Gestalten  !"  &c. 

I  feel  assured  that  you  will  overlook  any  de- 
ficiencies of  my  own,  on  account  of  the  interest 
which  the  main  subject  of  this  volume  will  have  for 
you.  I  beg  you.  Madam,  to  accept  the  sentiments 
of  my  great  respect ;  and  I  know  I  do  not  venture 
too  much  if  I  seize  upon  this  opportunity  to  express 


V 


to  you,  in  the  name  of  my  adopted  country,  the 
sincerest  thanks  for  your  successful  labours  in  that 
great  exchange  of  knowledge  and  literature  among 
nations,  which  teaches  them  mutual  regard,  and 
peace,  and  good-will.    I  am, 

My  de5r  Madam, 
Your  very  obedient  and  humble  servant, 

FRANCIS  LIEBER. 

Philadelphia^  May  1835. 


J 

CONTENTS. 

Introduction 

Page. 
13 

Liberty  depends  not  only  upon  the  Legislative  branch 

59 

England 

61 

Niebuhr's  work  on  Great  Britain 

61 

Historiographers  of  Rome 

62 

Niebuhr  and  Gibbon 

63 

Carnot 

63.  153 

Holland  and  Belgium. — The  King  and  Queen  of  the 

Netherlands 

64 

Mr.  Niebuhr's  knowledge  of  Latin 

65 

Homer 

67 

Mr.  Niebuhr's  knowledge  of  Languages 

69 

Abuse  of  Power 

74 

Importance  of  a  good  Handwriting 

74 

Importance  of  Writing  at  once  correctly 

76 

Napoleon's  Handwriting 

78 

Parchment 

78 

Michelangelo. — First  King  of  Italy 

78 

Machiavelli 

79 

Mr.  Niebuhr's  Parental  Wish 

80 

viii 


CONTENTS. 


Mr.  Spalding. — Niebuhr's  Roman  History  80 

Mr.  Niebuhr's  Roman  History  81 

Advice  to  Young  People  81 

Signs  of  the  rapid  Flight  of  time  82 

Mr.  Niebuhr's  Memory  83 

France  a  Republic  84 

Parties  in  France  84 

Opinion  of  Pius  VII.  of  Prince  Hohenlohe  87 
The  Pope's  interest  in  the  labours  of  Mr.  Niebuhr. — His 

blessing  87 

Citron  sent  by  the  Pope  89 

Mr.  Niebuhr's  Father. — Franklin  89 

Henry  IV.  of  France  90 

Authority  of  Law  among  the  Romans  91 

Athens, — Sparta  91 

Hypocritical  Critics  92 

The  Romans  essentially  Farmers  95 

Waste  of  Time  96 

Metaphysics  96 

Jacobi                                                       '  97 

Mr.  Niebuhr's  intercourse  with  other  scholars  97 

The  Vatican  99 

Caliphs  99 

Sclavonic  100 

The  idea  of  Impurity  attached  to  Woman  100 

Palladiums  101 

Battle  of  Wcissenberg  101 

Fra  Paolo  102 

Influence  of  Rehgion  in  Ancient  and  Modern  Rome  102 

Loss  of  the  Mexican  Literature  103 

Punishment  of  Death  for  not  being  victorious  103 

Spiritual  Exercises  104 

Chronicle  of  Cologne  105 


CONTENTS. 


ix 


Page. 


Land-owners  near  Albano. — Joseph  in  Egypt  105 

Greek  Revolution. — Great  requisites  of  a  Liberator  1 06 

Ali  Pacha's  Courage  107 

Count  Deserre  108 

Visit  to  Pompeii  with  Count  Deserre  108 

Klopstock. — Count  Deserre's  knowledge  of  him  109 

the  French  110 
Napoleon,  and  the  Triumphal  March  of  Alexander,  by  Thor- 

waldsen  111 

Small  Houses  in  Antiquity  112 

Domestication  of  the  Lazzaroni  113 

Joseph  Bonaparte's  Government  in  Naples  113 

Influence  of  the  Crown  114 

Pisa  114 

Clausur a  of  Convents  114 
Measures  which  would  promote  tlie  Cultivation  of  the  soil  in 

many  parts  of  Italy  116 

Mr.  Niebuhr  does  not  want  a  title  of  Nobility  117 

Thorwaldsen  118 

Character  of  Napoleon  119 

Emigres                         ,  120 

Napoleon  121 

Martyrs  121 

An  antique  Knife  of  Stone  122 

Monte  Cavo  1 23 

The  Fall  of  Prussia  127 

Canova  127 

Indulgences  129 

Visit  to  the  Collegio  Romano  134 

Mr.  Capuccini,  the  Secretary  of  Cardinal  Consalvi  135 

Views  of  Antiquity  136 

Influence  of  Teutonic  Tribes  upon  the  Italian  Language  138 

Pronunciation  of  the  Latin  140 


X  CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Orthography  141 

The  Latin  word  "  Obscenus"  142 

Ferdinand  IV.  of  Naples  143 

St.  Francis  143 

Mr.  Pertz  145 

Mr.  Niebuhr's  knowledge  of  French  146. 

Mistakes  of  the  Cortes  147 

Literary  power  of  Paris  147 

Machiavelli — Segretario  Fiorentino  148 

Italian  Versions  of  the  Bible  149 

Liberty  of  the  Press  149 

Alexander  Hamilton  150 

Divisibility  of  Land  150 

Last  Wills  made  in  Foreign  Countries  152 

Truly  great  things  152 

Carnot  153 

Valez  153 

General  Vaudoncourt  153 

Klopstock  154 

Horace  155 

Ignatius  Potocki  157 

The  Remains  of  Scipio  157 

Shakspeare  early  transplanted  to  Germany  157 
Anticipating  Pardons                                                   •  158 

Servitude  never  existed  in  Asia  159 

Protestants  in  Turkey  159 

Tolerance  of  the  Mufli  159 

Turkish  Faithfulness  160 

Herodotus  160 
The  Emperors  Maximilian  and  Ferdinand. — Gustavus 

Adolphus. — Lutherans  and  Calvinists  160 

Peasant  War  161 

Wealtli  in  Germany  before  the  Thirty  Years'  War  162 


CONTENTS.  Xi 

Page. 

Proportion  of  the  Dead  in  War  1 62 

Irrigation  and  Cultivation  of  the  Campagna  Romana  162 

Introduction  of  the  Musket  in  European  Armies  163 

Parliamentary  Regulations  of  the  Spanish  Cortes  164 

Spanish  Character  164 

Sculpture  in  Rome  165 

Caesar. — ^Mirabeau. — Brutus. — Cato  166 

Extraction  of  Pope  Pius  VII.  167 

Party  Spirit                              .  168 

History  of  the  Middle  Ages  168 

The  Teutonic  Order  168 

Croatians  169 

Hercules  169 

Fle*lnming. — Opitz. — Logan. — Scultetus  169 

Galilei  170 

French  Royalists  170 

Priests  at  the  time  of  Aristophanes  171 

Difference  between  the  Pope  and  his  Maestro  di  Palazzo  171 

Contubernium  172 

Marius  and  Sylla  172 

The  Bourbons  173 

Candia  173 

Napoleon  and  Alexander. — Greece  174 

Convents  174 

Spaniards  174 

Origin  of  the  Carnival  175 

Human  Power  175 

Influence  of  the  Popes  175 

Ancient  Roads  176 

United  States  and  England  176 

Leo  the  Great  176 

The  French  in  Italy  177 

Births  -  177 


xii 

Page. 

Ganganelli 

177 

Attila 

178 

Adulation  of  Napoleon 

178 

Lucien  Bonaparte 

179 

Celestine  V. 

179 

St.  Peter's  Church 

180 

Italian  Language 

181 

Mr.  Niebulir's  History 

183 

Courage 

184 

A  Capuchin 

• 

185 

Venetians 

186 

Ignorance  in  Rome 

186 

Testa. — Rostro 

187 

Oracles 

188 

Early  Civilization 

188 

Essay  on  the  Allegory  in 

the  First  Canto  of  Dante 

189 

REMINISCENCES  OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Whatever  contributes  to  show  with  clearer  de- 
lineation the  character,  dispositions,  and  intellectual 
activity  of  a  man  like  Mr.  Niebuhr,  the  historian, 
whose  labours  have  already  exercised  a  powerful  in- 
fluence upon  an  important  branch  of  human  science, 
and  will  produce  a  growing  effect  on  every  future 
generation,  will  be  welcomed,  I  trust,  by  all  who 
love  knowledge  and  truth.  With  this  view  I  g^ive 
the  following  pages  to  the  public. 

At  various  times,  since  the  death  of  that  great 
scholar,  the  idea  has  occurred  to  my  mind,  that 
those  who  enjoyed  the  rare  good  fortune  of  living  on 
terms  of  intimacy  with  him,  would  do  an  essential 
service  to  science  were  they  to  publish  all  they 
know  with  regard  to  his  studies,  opinions,  and  the 
more  important  occurrences  in  his  life.  Having 
lately  had  occasion  to  search  among  my  papers,  I 
2 


14  REMINISCENCES. 

met  with  so  many  notes  relating  to  my  intercourse 
with  him,  that  I  resolved  at  once"  to  collect  from 
them  all  that  appeared  to  be  of  general  interest,  and 
of  which  the  publication  would  neither  betray  his 
confidence,  nor  injure  the  private  interest  of  any 
person. 

From  the  succeeding  pages  it  will  be  seen  that 
Mr.  Niebuhr  received  me  into  his  house  at  an 
age  and  period  of  my  life  in  which  no  candid  reader 
will  expect  that  judicious  foresight  which  was  requi- 
site to  note  down  carefully  all  the  most  important 
facts  and  views  stated  at  various  times  by  him,  even 
if  my  natural  disposition  had  been  to  wake  so  sys- 
tematic a  collection  of  table-talk. 

Disappointed  in  my  most  ardent  desires,  I  had  re- 
turned from  Greece,  mourning  as  an  enthusiastic 
youth  is  apt  to  mourn  when  his  fondest  hopes  are 
first  nipped  by  cold  reality.  It  was  at  this  period 
that  Mr.  Niebuhr,  who  had  known  neither  my  fa- 
mily nor  anything  of  myself,  received  me  as  the 
kindest  friend.  He  said  to  me,  in  language  which 
has  sunk  deep  into  my  heart,  "  Do  not  be  dis- 
couraged: come  to  me,  and  recover  yourself  in  my 
house. On  another  occasion,  wlien  he  found  that 
I  had  given  up  a  plan  of  visiting  the  Vatican  in 
company  with  several  friends,  in  order  to  finish 
something  which  he  had  wished  me  to  do,  he  said: 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  15 

"I  am  displeased  with  you:  you  ought  to  have 
found  ere  this  that  I  would  have  you  live  with  me 
as  with  a  brother."  iln  constant  intercourse  with 
such  a  friend  and  benefactor,  with  such  a  guide  in 
Rome,  where  all  her  art,  and  history,  and  beauty, 
burst  upon  my  soul  as  a  new  world,  of  whose  cha- 
racter T  had  but  faintly  dreamt,  but  which  to  know 
I  had  always  longed,  it  will  be  easily  understood 
that  my  mind  was  often  too  much  occupied,  and  the 
life  1  lived  too  intense,  to  find  time  and  patience  to 
survey  it  calmly,  and  record  all  I  had  seen  or  heard 
regularly.  I  kept  a  journal,  indeed;  but  not  unfre- 
quent)}^  have  I  omitted  to  make  notes  of  what  now 
would  be  most  interesting. 

I  disclaim,  therefore,  in  the  following  pages  any- 
thing like  a  complete  record  of  every  interesting  or 
important  sentiment  that  Mr.  Niebuhr  stated  during 
my  residence  with  him,  or  even  of  all  the  most  im- 
portant facts  or  opinions.  Besides  this  deficiency  in 
my  journal,  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  mention,  that 
my  papers  were  subsequently  sealed  by  the  police, 
and  have  undergone  its  penetrating  criticism.  Some 
have  been  lost  by  this  process,  others  by  my  wan- 
dering life  since  that  time.  Still  I  hope  that  those 
which  have  remained  will  be  judged  of  sufficient  in- 
terest, and  enable  the  reader  to  form  a  more  accu- 
rate idea  of  the  distinguished  man  to  whom  they  re- 


16  REMINISCENCES 

late  ;  as  they  will  also,  in  some  instances,  aflford  him 
an  interesting  insight  into  the  various  causes  which 
led  to  his  great  work,  or  facilitated  its  perfection. 
In  short,  I  feel  assured  they  will  be  found  of 
psychological  interest  both  as  to  the  man  and  the 
scholar. 

I  might  have  grouped  the  different  aphorisms  un- 
der some  general  heads  ;  but  even  this  arrangement 
seemed  to  me  to  indicate  a  promise  of  giving  some- 
thing complete  ;  or,  at  any  rate,  it  appeared  to  me  to 
deprive  the  various  sentiments  of  that  desultory  cha- 
racter which  they  ought  to  retain  in  order  to  remain 
perfectly  natural  :  as  they  were  gathered,  so  I  give 
them. 

Whoever  knows  me  will  know  also  that  I  am  not 
capable  of  altering  or  colouring,  when  I  promise  to 
give  the  words  of  a  man  whom  I  cannot  recollect  but 
with  the  mingled  feelings  of  sadness,  veneration,  and 
gratitude,  which  I  owe  to  him  as  my  best  friend. 
To  those  of  my  readers  who  do  not  know  me  person- 
ally, I  can  only  offer  what  they  will  find  in  the  work 
itself,  and  in  the  character  I  may  have  gained  with 
them  by  previous  publications,  as  my  guarantee  for 
the  truth  of  what  I  am  now  going  to  record.  It  is 
that  alone  which  can  give  any  value  to  these  pages. 
Most  of  what  the  reader  will  find  is  literal  transla- 
tion:  a  few  circumstances  or  sentiments  I  have 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  17 

stated  from  memory,  when  they  were  of  a  character 
indelibly  to  impress  themselves  upon  my  mind. 

There  are  many  other  statements  which  I  recol- 
lect with  considerable  certainty  ;  but  I  abstain  from 
giving  them,  lest  1  might  deviate  from  rigid  truth. 
Some  of  the  most  interesting  sentiments  I  have  left 
out,  because  they  might  affect  persons  whose  interest 
it  was  surely  not  Mr.  Niebuhr's  wish  to  affect :  nor 
have  I  given  anything  which  I  could  imagine  that 
he  himself,  in  my  situation,  would  have  suppressed, 
those  statements  only  excepted  which  show  his  own 
excellent  character.  1  need  not  add,  that  it  would 
have  been  presumptuous  in  me  to  record  only  those 
opinions  of  Mr.  Niebuhr  which  happen  to  coincide 
with  my  own.  I  am  desirous  of  affording  to  the 
reader  the  opportunity  to  form  a  more  vivid  picture 
of  him ;  my  own  views  have  no  connexion  with  this 
subject. 

In  order  to  understand  the  precise  character  of  the 
subsequent  sentiments,  it  will  be  necessary  to  know 
in  what  relation  I  stood  to  Mr.  Niebuhr.  This  will 
be  seen  from  the  following  account,  which  is  the 
more  gratifying  to  my  heart,  as  I  consider  it  a  tri- 
bute to  his  goodness  which  it  has  long  been  my  anx- 
ious desire  to  pay. 

I  went  in  the  year  1821  to  Greece,  led  by  youth- 
ful ardour  to  assist  the  oppressed  and  struggling  de- 

2* 


19  REMINISCENCES. 

scendants  of  that  people  whom  all  civilized  nations 
love  and  admire.  After  having  suffered  many  hard- 
ships and  bitter  disappointments,  and  finding  it  im- 
possible either  to  fight  or  to  procure  the  means  for  a 
bare  subsistence,  however  small,  I  resolved  in  1822 
to  return,  as  so  many  other  Philhellenes  were  obliged 
to  do.  The  small  sum  which  I  had  obtained  by  sel- 
ling nearly  every  article  I  possessed,  was  rapidly 
dwindling  away  :  I  should  have  died  of  hunger  had 
I  remained  longer.  Before,  therefore,  my  money  was 
entirely  exhausted,  I  took  passage  at  Messalunghi  in 
a  small  vessel  bound  for  Ancona.  One  scudo  and  a 
half  was  all  that  remained  in  my  purse  after  1  had 
paid  the  commander  of  the  tartan — a  price  which 
was  very  high  for  the  poor  accommodation,  or 
rather,  absence  of  all  accommodation,  but  only  natu- 
ral considering  my  helpless  state,  and  that  the  com- 
mander of  the  vessel  was  a  Greek.  We  had  a  rough 
passage,  during  which  we  were  obliged  to  seek 
shelter  in  the  bay  of  Gorzola,  on  the  coast  of  Dalma- 
tia  ;  and  on  Easter-eve  we  entered  the  port  of  An- 
cona. I  remembered  having  heard  from  a  fellow- 
student  of  mine  in  Germany,  that  he  intended  to 
abandon  the  pandects  and  follow  the  fine  arts  :  if  he 
had  done  so,  I  concluded  he  would  be  by  this  time 
in  Rome.  In  a  letter,  therefore,  to  one  of  the  first 
artists  in  that  city,  whom  I  knew  only  by  reputation, 
I  enclosed  another  to  my  friend,  hoping  that  the  for- 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  19 

mer  might  have  happened  to  hear  of  him.  In  this 
letter  I  asked  for  money  to  enable  me  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  the  quarantine  :  should  I  be  unable  to 
do  this,  the  Captain  who  had  brought  me  would  have 
been  bound  to  pay  my  expenses,  and  I  should  have 
been  obliged  to  pay  him  by  serving  on  board  his 
vessel.  This  regulation  is  fair  enough.  Caution 
prohibits  anything  being  touched  which  comes  from 
persons  in  quarantine  :  the  establishment,  therefore, 
must  furnish  articles  of  comfort  and  sustenance  on 
credit,  which  would  be  often  abused  if  the  quarantine 
establishment  had  not  the  right  to  look  to  the  cap- 
tain, and  the  captain  to  the  passenger. 

There  was  then  a  fair  chance  that  I  should  have 
to  work  for  some  time  as  a  sailor  on  board  a  Greek 
vessel,  until  we  should  go  to  anchor  in  some  large 
port,  where  I  might  find  a  consul  of  my  own  nation, 
to  whom  I  could  disclose  my  situation,  and  who 
would  feel  disposed  to  assist  me  until  I  could  obtain 
from  home  the  means  of  returning.  But  my  friend 
happened  to  be  at  Rome  and  to  have  money,  and, 
with  the  promptness  of  a  German  student,  sent  me 
all  he  possessed  at  the  time. 

Unfortunately  an  old  woman  who  had  come  with 
us  from  Greece  died  shortly  after  we  entered  into 
quarantine,  and  we  were  sentenced  to  full  forty 
days'  contumacia.    At  length  the  day  of  liberty 


20  REMINISCENCES 

arrived.  My  intention  was,  of  course,  to  go  to 
Rome ;  and  no  sooner  had  we  pratica, — as  the 
Italians  so  justly  call  this  permission  to  go  where 
you  like,  all  confinement  being  but  a  life  in  theory, 
— than  I  went  to  the  police-office  to  ask  for  the  ne- 
cessary signature  to  my  passport  for  Rome. 

My  passport  happened  to  be  in  wretched  disorder. 
When  I  resolved  on  going  to  Greece,  I  lived  in 
Dresden,  not  unwatched,  as  1  had  but  lately  left  the 
prison,  where  I  had  been  confined  for  political  rea- 
sons. It  was  impossible  for  me  to  obtain  a  passport 
for  any  length  of  time,  and  particularly  for  a  journey 
to  France  :  yet  I  had  to  make  my  way  to  Mar- 
seilles, where  I  intended  to  embark  for  Greece.  I 
took,  therefore,  a  passport  for  a  journey  to  Nurem- 
berg, and  for  the  short  period  of  a  fortnight  only. 
Once  in  possession  of  this  paper,  I  emptied  an  ink- 
stand over  the  words  which  declared  it  to  be  limited 
to  so  short  a  space  of  time.  I  then  had  it  signed  in 
every  small  place  on  my  route  to  Nuremberg,  so  that 
it  finally  looked  form.idable  enough.  When  I  ar- 
rived there,  I  accounted  for  the  defacing  ink-blot 
by  the  awkwardness  of  the  police-officer  of  some 
previous  bureau,  and  got  the  paper  signed  for  Mu- 
nich. There  I  chose  the  time  when  the  chief  offi- 
cers of  my  legation  would  probabl}^  be  gone  to 
dinner,  to  have  it  farther  signed  for  Switzerland, 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  21 

pretending  to  be  in  a  great  hurry.  It  was  signed. 
I  passed  through  Switzerland ;  and  on  the  French 
frontier  I  received,  according  to  rule,  a  provisionary 
passport,  the  other  being  taken  from  me  to  be  sent 
to  Paris  ;  from  thence  it  would  be  forwarded  to  any 
place  I  should  indicate.  It  will  be  easily  supposed 
that  I  never  cared  to  receive  back  the  original  pass- 
port, and  it  was  the  provisional  French  paper  with 
which  I. had  to  make  my  way  through  the  police- 
office  at  Ancona. 

There  was  thus  an  immense  gap  in  my  passport ; 
in  addition  to  which  the  police-officer,  a  very  polite 
man,  declared  that  but  a  few  days  previously  they 
had  received  an  order  from  Rome,  not  to  sign  the 
passport  of  any  person  coming  from  Greece  except 
for  a  direct  journey  home.    I  was  thunderstruck. 

Would  you  prevent  me  from  seeing  Rome  ?" 
said  I,  probably  with  an  expression  which  showed 
the  intenseness  of  my  disappointment  ;  for  the 
officer  replied  in  a  kind  tone,  You  see,  carissimo 
mio,  I  cannot  do  otherwise.  You  are  a  Prussian, 
and  I  must  direct  your  passport  home  to  Germany. 
I  will  direct  it  to  Florence  :  your  minister  there 
may  direct  it  back  to  Rome.  Or  I  will  direct  it  to 
any  place  in  Tuscany  which  you  may  choose  ;  for 
through  Tuscany  you  must  travel  in  order  to  reach 
Germany.'^ 


22  REMINISCENCES 

I  think  I  never  felt  more  wretched  than  on  leav- 
ing the  police-office.  I  had  sailed  for  Greece  from 
Marseilles,  and  had  now  returned  to  Ancona.  Had 
I  made  my  way  round  Rome  without  seeing  the 
Eternal  City — without  seeing  her  perhaps  ever  in 
my  life  ? 

A  Danish  gentleman,  who  had  gone  to  Greece 
for  the  same  purpose  as  myself,  who  had  sailed  with 
me  from  Messalunghi,  and  with  whom  I  now  had 
taken  lodgings,  felt  equally  disappointed.  We  went 
home  and  threw  ourselves  on  the  only  bed  in  our 
room  in  silent  despair.  Could  we  venture  to  go  to 
Rome  without  passports  ?  We  should  certainly  be 
impeded  on  our  wa}^  by  gendarmes,  particularly  as 
our  shabby  dress  was  far  from  removing  all  suspi- 
cion from  these  watchful  servants  of  public  safety. 
We  could  think  of  no  means  of  obtaining  the  ob- 
ject of  our  most  ardent  wishes,  and  yet  we  could 
not  resolve  to  abandon  it.  Thus  lying  and  medi- 
tating, I  took  up,  mechanically,  a  map  of  Italy:  we 
gazed  at  it,  and  our  disappointment  became  but  the 
keener  while  the  classic  ground  with  its  thousand 
associations  was  thus  strikingly  represented  before 
our  eyes.  Suddenly  an  idea  struck  us  which  show- 
ed one  possible  means  of  realizing  our  almost  hope- 
less desires. 

The  map  pointed  out  to  us  how  near  the  south- 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  23 

western  frontier  line  of  Tuscany  approaches  to 
Rome.  The  road  from  Ancona  to  Orbitello,  a  Tus- 
can place,  we  thought  was  nearly  the  same  as  that  to 
Rome.  Once  near  the  city,  we  did  not  doubt  but 
that  we  might  contrive  to  get  into  it ;  and  once 
there,  means  would  be  found  to  remain  there. 

I  started  back  immediately  to  the  police-office, 
pretended  to  have  received  a  letter  whicli  informed 
me  of  a  friend  of  mine  being  at  Orbitello,  and  re- 
quested the  officer  to  direct  my  passport  to  that 
place.  "  Orbitello,"  I  added,  "  is  in  Tuscany,  you 
know."  Italians  generally,  as  is  well  known,  are 
exceedingly  poor  geographers  ;  and  the  gentleman 
upon  whom  at  this  moment  the  gratification  of  my 
fondest  wishes  depended,  inquired  of  another  officer 
in  an  adjoining  room,  whether  Orbitello  was  in  Tus- 
cany or  belonged  to  the  Papal  territory.  I  went 
into  the  next  room,  showed  with  a  trembling  hand 
that  Orbitello  was  situated  within  the  colours  which 
distingui>hed  on  the  map  Tuscany  from  the  other 
states  of  Italy  ; — it  was  green,  I  recollect  well  ; — 
and,  to  my  infinite  joy,  this  gentleman  replied. 

Yes,  sir,  it  belongs  to  Tuscany." — Then  direct 
the  passport  of  two  gentlemen  to  that  place,"  was 
the  delightful  answer  ;  and  I  hurried  away  with  it 
from  the  office,  not  to  betray  my  emotion. 

Whether  my  anxiety  to  get  to  Rome  had  won  us 
the  good  graces  of  these  gentlemen  of  the  police,  or 


24 


REMINISCENCES 


whatever  els^e  may  have  been  the  cause,  certain  it  is 
that  they  treated  us  with  much  kindness ;  though  I 
should  have  blamed  no  one  for  keeping  at  a  respect- 
ful distance  from  us,  shabby  as  our  whole  exterior 
was.  The  officer  whom  I  had  had  the  good  luck  to 
teach  geography  extended  his  politeness  even  so  far 
as  to  invite  us  to  take  a  ride  with  him:  which  we, 
however,  prudently  declined. 

A  vetturino  was  hired,  and  we  left  Ancona  as 
soon  as  possible.  At  Nepi  we  had  to  inform  the 
coachman  that  we  intended  to  go  to  Rome,  and  not 
to  Orbitello,  as  the  roads  divi<le  a  few  miles  beyond 
Nepi,  at  the  Colonneta.  A  trifle  smoothed  over 
his  objections  ;  and  when  we  were  near  Rome,  we 
jumped  out  of  the  carriage,  directed  the  vetturino  to 
retain  our  knapsacks  until  we  should  call  for  them, 
and  entered  the  Porta  del  Populo  as  if  the  porticoes 
of  the  churches  near  it  and  the  obelisk  were  no- 
thing new  to  us.  My  heart  beat  as  we  approached 
the  tame-looking  sentinel  of  the  Papal  troops,  more 
than  it  ever  had  beaten  at  the  approach  of  any  gre- 
nadier of  the  enemy  ;  and  the  delight  I  experienced 
when  I  had  safely  passed  him,  and  felt  and  saw  I 
was  in  Rome,  is  indescribable. 

I  found  the  friend  whom  I  have  already  men- 
tioned :  he  shared  his  room  with  me.  After  I  had 
somewhat  recovered  from  the  first  excitement 
caused  by  the  pleasure  of  seeing  him,  and  a  rapid 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  25 

glance  at  the  wonders  of  Rome,  and  the  conscious- 
ness of  treading  her  hallowed  ground,  I  reflected  on 
my  situation.  I  could  not  reside  at  Rome  for  any 
length  of  time  without  having  permission  from  the 
police.  This,  again,  I  could  not  obtain  without  a 
certificate  from  the  minister  of  my  country  that  my 
passport  was  in  order.  The  very  contrary  was  the 
case,  as  the  reader  knows  ;  in  fact,  T  was  ashamed 
to  show  my  passport  at  the  Prussian  legation.  I 
resolved,  therefore,  on  disclosing  frankly  my  situa- 
tion to  the  minister,  Mr.  Niebuhr  ;  hoping  that  a 
scholar  who  had  written  the  history  of  Rome,  could 
not  be  so  cruel  as  to  drive  me  from  Rome  without 
allowing  me  time  to  see  and  study  it.  Yet  I  did 
not  go  to  the  Prussian  legation  without  some  fear  ; 
for  should  I  be  unsuccessful,  it  was  clear  that  I  should 
be  deprived  of  the  residence  even  of  a  few  weeks  at 
this  most  interesting  of  all  spots  on  the  face  of  the 
globe,  which  I  might  have  enjoyed  before  the  police 
regulations  would  have  been  applied  to  me.  I 
knew  nothing  personally  of  Mr.  Niebuhr ;  nor 
whether  he  would  consider  himself  authorized  to 
grant  my  wishes,  however  easy  it  might  be  for  him 
to  understand  all  their  ardour.  He  knew  nothing 
of  me  ;  and  then,  how  should  I  appear  before  him  ? 
Certainly  not  in  a  very  prepossessing  condition. 
The  Prussian  Minister  resided  at  the  Palazzo 
3 


26  REMINISCENCES 

Orsini,  or,  as  it  is  equally  often  called,  Teatro  di 
Marcello  ;  for  the  palace  is  on  and  within  the  remains 
of  the  theatre  which  Augustus  built  and  dedicated 
to  his  nephew  Marcellus.  My  heart  grew  heavier 
the  nearer  I  approached  this  venerable  pile,  to  which 
a  whole  history  is  attached,  from  the  times ^f  an- 
tiquity, through  the  middle  ages,  when  it  served  as 
a  castle  to  its  proud  inmates,  and  down  to  the  most 
recent  times.  The  idea  that  I  might  be  disbelieved, 
prevented  me  for  a  moment  from  proceeding  any 
farther  to  that  building,  under  an  engraving  of  which 
in  my  possession  I  now  find  that  I  afterwards  wrote 
the  words,     In  quest  a  rovina  retroDai  la  vita.^^ 

I  did  not  see  the  m.inister  ;  he  was  busily  en- 
gaged ;  but  the  secretary  of  the  legation  received 
me  with  a  humanity  which  made  my  heart  tlirill, 
heightened  as  was  its  effect  by  the  contrast  with  all 
I  had  lately  experienced.  I  told  my  story  plainly  : 
he  went  to  the  minister,  and  returned  with  a  paper 
written  in  his  own  hand,  on  show^ing  which  the 
Papal  police  were  to  give  me  the  necessary  permis- 
sion to  reside  in  Rome  : — ^'  for,*'  said  he,  ^'  it  is 
clear  that  without  means  you  cannot  proceed  ;  and 
as  you  are  probably  in  want  of  funds  necessary  foi 
the  moment,  the  minister  has  directed  me  to  banc 
you  this  as  a  loan.  You  can  take  it  without  an} 
unpleasant  feeling,  as  it  is  part  of  a  sum  whic) 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  27 

Prince  Henry  (brother  to  the  reigning  king,  then 
residing  in  Rome)  has  placed  at  the  disposal  of  Mr. 
Niebuhr  for  the  assistance  of  gentlemen  who  might 
return  from  Greece.  Prince  Henry  of  course  does 
not  wish  to  know  the  names  of  those  who  have 
been  assisted  by  his  means  ;  so  you  need  feel  no 
scruples." 

■  I  had  to  make  yet  another  request.  I  was  anxious 
to  read  Mr.  Niebuhr's  History  of  Rome  in  Rome, 
and  had  been  unsuccessful  in  obtaining  a  copy  ;  I 
Iherefore  asked  whether  I  might  borrow  one  from 
Mr.  Niebuhr's  library.  Here  my  frankness  em- 
barrassed the  secretary,  and  he  very  justly  observed 
that  the  minister,  after  all,  knew  as  yet  nothing  of 
me.  I  felt  the  propriety  of  his  remark,  and  an- 
swered, that  I  was  so  desirous  of  reperusing  the 
work  just  at  this  moment,  that  I  had  considered  it 
due  to  myself  to  make  so  bold  a  request,  though  1 
was  aware  I  had  nothing  upon  which  I  could  found 
any  hope  of  success  except  the  honesty  of  my  pur- 
pose. He  advised  me  to  ask  the  minister  myself, 
which  I  might  do  the  following  day  at  a  certain 
hour,  when  he  had  expressed  a  wish  to  see  me. 

When  I  went  the  next  morning  at  the  appointed 
time,  as  I  thought,  Mr.  Niebuhr  met  me  on  the 
stairs,  being  on  the  point  of  going  out.  He  re- 
ceived me  with  kindness  and  affability,  returned 


28  REMINISCENCES 

with  me  to  his  room,  made  me  relate  my  whole 
story,  and  appeared  much  pleased  that  I  could  give 
him  some  information  respecting  Greece,  which  seem- 
ed to  be  not  void  of  interest  to  him.  Our  conversation 
lasted  several  hours,  when  he  broke  off,  asking  me 
to  return  to  dinner.  I  hesitated  in  accepting  the 
invitation,  which  he  seemed  unable  to  understand. 
He  probably  thought  that  a  person  in  my  situation 
ought  to  be  glad  to  receive  an  invitation  of  this  kind; 
and,  in  fact  any  one  might  feel  gratified  in  being 
asked  to  dine  with  him,  especially  in  Rome.  When 
I  saw  that  my  motive  for  declining  so  flattering  an 
invitation  was  not  understood,  I  said,  throwing  a 
glance  at  my  dress,  "  Really,  sir,  I  am  not  in  a  state 
to  dine  with  an  excellency.'^  He  stamped  with  his 
foot,  and  said  with  some  animation,  Are  diploma- 
tists always  believed  to  be  so  cold-hearted  !  I  am 
the  same  that  I  was  in  Berlin  when  I  delivered  my 
lectures:  your  remark  was  wrong."*  No  argument 
could  be  urged  against  such  reasons. 

I  recollect  that  d  inner  with  delight.  His  conver- 
sation, abounding  in  rich  and  various  knowledge 
and  striking  observations;  his  great  kindness;  the 
acquaintance  I  made  with  Mrs.  Niebuhr ;  his  love- 
ly children,  who  were  so  beautiful,  that  when,  at  a 


*  Das  war  Kleinlich  were  his  words. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  29 

later  period,  I  used  to  walk  with  them,  the  women 
would  exclaim,  ^<  Ma  guardate,  guardate,  che  an- 
geli  — a  good  dinner  (which  I  had  not  enjoyed  for 
a  long  time)  in  a  high  vaulted  room,  the  ceiling  of 
which  was  painted  in  the  style  of  Italian  palaces ;  a 
picture  by  the  mild  Francia  close  by  ;  the  sound  of 
the  murmuring,  foun^in  in  the  garden,  and  the  re- 
freshing beverages  in  coolers,  which  I  had  seen,  but 
the  day  before,  represented  in  some  of  the  most 
masterly  pictures  of  the  Italian  schools; — in  short, 
my  consciousness  of  being  at  dinner  with  Niebuhr 
in  his  house  in  Rome — and  all  this  in  so  bold  relief 
to  my  late  and  not  unfrequently  disgusting  sufferings, 
would  have  rendered  the  moment  one  of  almost  per- 
fect enjoyment  and  happiness,  had  it  not  been  for 
an  annoyance  which,  I  have  no  doubt,  will  appear 
here  a  mere  trifle.  However,  reality  often  widely 
differs  from  its  description  on  paper.  Objects  of 
great  effect  for  the  moment  become  light  as  air,  and 
others,  shadows  and  vapours  in  reality,  swell  into 
matters  of  weighty  consideration  when  subjected  to 
the  recording  pen; — a  truth,  by  the  way,  which  ap- 
plies to  our  daily  life,  as  well  as  to  transactions  of 
powerful  effect; — and  it  is,  therefore,  the  sifting  tact 
which  constitutes  one  of  the  most  necessary,  yet 
difficult,  requisites  for  a  sound  historian. 

My  dress  consisted  as  yet  of  nothing  better  than 
3  * 


30 


REMINISCENCES 


a  pair  of  unblacked  shoes,  such  as  are  not  unfre- 
quently  worn  in  the  Levant;  a  pair  of  socks  of  coarse 
Greek  wool ;  the  brownish  pantaloons  frequently 
worn  by  sea-captains  in  the  Mediterranean  ;  and  a 
blue  frock-coat,  through  which  two  balls  had  passed 
— a  fate  to  which  the  blue  cloth  cap  had  likewise 
been  exposed.  The  socks  were  exceedingly  short, 
hardly  covering  my  ankles,  and  so  indeed  were  the 
pantaloons;  so  that,  when  I  was  in  a  sitting  position, 
they  refused  me  the  charity  of  meeting,  with  an  ob- 
stinacy which  reminded  me  of  the  irreconcileable 
temper  of  the  tv/o  brothers  in  Schiller's  Bride  of 
Messina.  There  happened  to  dine  with  Mr.  Nie- 
buhr  another  lady  besides  Mrs.  Niebuhr;  and  my 
embarrassment  was  not  small  when,  towards  the  con- 
clusion of  the  dinner,  the  children  rose  and  played 
about  on  the  ground,  and  I  saw  my  poor  extremities 
exposed  to  all  the  frank  remarks  of  quick-sighted 
childhood;  fearing  as  I  did,  at  the  same  time,  the 
still  more  trying  moments  after  dinner,  when  I 
should  be  obliged  to  take  coffee  near  the  ladies,  un- 
protected by  the  kindly  shelter  of  the  table.  Mr. 
Niebuhr  observed,  perhaps,  that  something  embar- 
rassed me,  and  he  redoubled,  if  possible,  his  kind- 
ness. 

After  dinner  he  proposed  a  walk,  and  asked  the 
ladies  to  accompany  us.    I  pitied  them  ;  but  as  a 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  31 

gentleman  of  their  acquaintance  had  dropped  in  by 
this  time,  who  gladly  accepted  the  ofifer  to  walk  with 
us,  they  were  spared  the  mortification  of  taking  my 
arm.  Mr.  Niebuhr,  probably  remembering  what  I 
had  said  of  my  own  appearance  in  the  morning,  put 
his  arm  under  mine,  and  thus  walked  with  me  for  a 
long  time.  After  our  return,  when  I  intended  to 
take  leave,  he  asked  me  whether  I  wished  for  any- 
thing. I  said  I  should  like  to  borrow  his  History. 
He  had  but  one  copy,  to  which  he  had  added  notes, 
and  which  he  did  not  wish,  therefore,  to  lend  out 
of  his  house  ;  but  he  said  he  would  get  a  copy  for 
me.  As  to  his  other  books,  he  gave  me  the  key  of 
his  library  to  take  whatever  I  liked.  He  laughed 
when. I  returned  laden  with  books,  and  dismissed 
me  in  the  kindest  manner. 

A  short  time  after,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  accom- 
panying him  and  Mr.  Bunsen,  then  his  secretary, 
now  minister  in  his  place,  to  Tivoli,  where  we  re- 
mained a  few  days,  residing  in  a  house  which  be- 
longed to  Cardinal  Consalvi  ;  and,  but  a  few  days 
after,  he  invited  me  to  live  with  him,  assisting,  if 
agreeable  to  me,  in  the  education  of  his  son  Marcus. 
I  thus  became  the  constant  companion  of  this  rarely 
gifted  man  at  meals  and  on  his  daily  walks  after 
dinner,  which  were  the  most  instructive  hours  of 
my  life.     He  also  gave  to  the  Danish  gentleman 


32  REMINISCENCES 

whom  I  have  mentioned  the  means  of  returning  to 
his  own  country. 

Mr.  Niebuhr  proposed  to  me  to  write  an  account 
of  my  journey  in  Greece  ;  which  I  at  first  hesitated 
to  do,  as  I  could  give  only  a  lamentable  picture ; 
but  he  showed  me  how  necessary  it  would  be  to  pre- 
sent a  true  sketch  of  affairs  in  that  unhappy  country, 
both  for  the  Greeks  and  those  young  men  who  might 
feel  disposed  to  pursue  the  same  course  that  I  had 
myself  done.  I  objected  besides  to  the  task,  as  I 
had  little  else  to  relate  than  the  result  of  sad  experi- 
ence, and  should  thus  tear  open  wounds  which  had 
hardly  begun  to  heal.  However,  he  assured  me  that 
I  should  feel  much  better  satisfied  after  I  had  once 
performed  the  labour.  I  went  to  w^ork,  ther^ore  ; 
and  what  I  had  written  in  the  afternoon  or  evening, 
I  read  after  breakfast  to  him  and  Mrs.  Niebuhr  in 
the  garden.  His  advice  throughout  the  progress  of 
the  work  was  of  the  greatest  value  to  me.* 

During  the  summer  I  accompanied  Mr.  Niebuhr 
and  his  family  to  Albano,  where  we  resided  for  some 
time  ;  and  in  March  1823,  when  he  quitted  the  em- 
bassy at  Rome,  he  took  me  with  him  to  Naples  ; 
whence  we  returned  in  the  month  of  May  to  Rome, 

*  The  work  was  published,  under  the  title,  "Journal  of  my 
residence  in  Greece,"  Leipzig,  1823  ;  and  a  Dutch  translation 
of  it,  under  the  transformed  and  catching  title.  **  The  German 
Anacharsis,"  Amsterdam,  1823. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  33 

which  we  left  in  about  a  vveek.  By  way  of  Flo- 
rence, Pisa,  and  Bologna,  we  went  to  the  Tyrol  ; 
and  in  Inspruck  I  took  leave  of  that  family  with 
whom  alone  I  then  considered  my  existence  tolerable. 
Mr.  Niebuhr  went  by  way  of  Switzerland,  where 
he  passed  six  weeks  at  St.  Gall  to  examine  the 
manuscripts  of  its  library,  on  his  way  to  Bonn. 

Mr.  Niebuhr  honoured  me  vvith  his  correspond- 
ence ;  and  when,  after  my  return  to  Berlin,  I  was 
again  imprisoned,  he,  being  called  to  the  capital  to 
assist  in  the  council  of  state  then  held,  paid  me  a 
visit  at  Koepnick,'*  the  place  of  my  confinement.  I 
have  to  acknowledge  this  act  of  kindness  with  the 
greater  gratitude,  as  he  himself  was  at  that  time  per- 
haps not  looked  upon  without  some  degree  of  poli- 
tical distrust.  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  I  owe 
my  second  liberation  greatly  to  his  exertions. 

A  great  effort  was  made  during  this  session  of  the 
council  of  state  to  establish  a  national  bank  ;  and 
Mr.  Niebuhr,  abhorring  the  stock-jobbing  spirit  then 
so  universally  spread  over  Europe,  and  believing 
that  a  national  bank  would  greatly  increase  this  evil, 
and  be  but  a  tempting  and  ready  means  for  ruinous 
money  transactions  of  government,  strained  every 
nerve  to  prevent  a  bank.  He  succeeded  ;  and  when 
the  memorable  commercial  revolution  of  1825  took 
place,  he  congratulated  himself  on  having  prevented 
*  A  small  town,  about  eight  miles  from  Berlin, 


34  REMINISCENCES 

still  greater  mischief  in  Prussia  by  his  exertions 
against  a  bank.    In  a  letter  to  Count  Bernstorff,  then 
minister  of  foreign  affairs,  dated  February  22,  1826, 
which  he  sent  me  open,  as  a  letter  of  recommendation 
to  be  delivered  if  I  should  pursue  a  certain  plan  I  had 
communicated    to  him,^   he    said,    after  having 
expressed  his  acknowledgment  for  a  favour  bestowed 
upon  him  by  government:  ^-'I  make  bold  to  believe 
myself  entitled  to  some  small  favour,  even  if  for  no 
other  reason  than  that  I  have  prevented  the  establish- 
ment of  the  bank.    What  would  the  state  and  public 
not  have  suffered  had  that  project  been  executed  ! 
How  many  more  families  would  have  been  ruined  !" 
— The  favour  of  which  he  speaks  was  nothing  else 
than  a  more  convenient  arrangement  of  the  payment 
of  his  salary,  as  he  had  suffered  considerable  loss  by 
the  failure  of  a  house  in  which  he  had  placed  most  of 
his  funds. 

When  I  resided  in  London,  the  university  of  that 
city  was  in  course  of  organization,  and  I  intended  to 
apply  for  the  chair  of  the  German  and  Northern  lan- 
guages. Before  I  had  made,  however,  any  proper 
application,  I  was  induced  to  go  to  America.  In  the 
mean  time  1  had  written  to  Germany  for  testimonials 
by  which  I  might  prove  my  fitness  for  the  desired 
professorship.    Mr.  Niebuhr  promptly  sent  me  the 

•  The  letter  was  not  delivered. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  35 

desired  paper,  expressing  his  opinion  in  terms  which 
gave  me  the  greatest  pleasure,  though  I  never  had 
occasion  to  use  it.  The  letter  in  which  he  sent  it, 
and  which  is  dated  March  23,  1827,  contains  the  fol- 
lowing passage,  which  may  not  be  uninteresting  with 
regard  to  a  more  accurate  knowledge  of  himself,  as 
well  as  in  a  general  view. 

"Theenclosed  containstherecommendation,  which 
I  send  you  with  great  pleasure,  as  it  agrees  with  my 
conscience  as  much  as  my  wishes  for  your  success 
agree  with  my  heart ;  may  it  be  useful  to  you  in  some 
way  or  other  !  Competition  will  be  great  ;  and 
gentlemen  will  not  be  wanting  who  have  the  support 
of  present  and  influential  friends.  In  general,  I  trust 
to  your  good  star,  which  has  so  far  never  abandoned 
you  ;  though  in  this  special  case  you  may  be  unsuc- 
cessful. 

"  As  I  understand,  two  very  different  elements  are 
active  in  the  erection  of  the  London  University — the 
Whigs  and  Radicals.  Both  belong  to  a  time  that 
has  passed.  The  first  do  not  know  precisely  what 
they  want,  except  power  and  independence  upon 
government,  in  the  sense  of  the  old  barons,  only 
reduced  and  applied  to  our  own  time  :*  their  pro- 
perty is  their  idol.  #  #  *  * 

#  *  *  *  *  # 

#  *      •     *  *  *  *  * 


*  The  reader  will  remember  when  Mr.  Niebuhr  wrote  the 


36 


REMINISCENCES 


They  have  as  miserable  a  contempt  towards  foreign- 
ers, especially  towards  us  Germans,  as  the  Tories. 
This  I  say  in  general;  yet  there  are  many  excep- 
tions, and  most  of  my  friends  in  England  are  Whigs. 
By  this  time  you  will  know  the  Radicals:  free  of 
many  prejudices  of  the  two  other  parties,  less  inso- 
lent towards  foreign  countries,  yet  they  show  less 
justice  towards  us,  in  particular,  than  to  other  foreign 
nations.  Their  political  economy  is  no  deep  wis- 
dom ;*  yet  they  feel  at  least  some  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  the  million,  though  they  restrict  this  in- 
terest to  their  physical  welfare.  This,  however,  is 
much  in  these  times  of  egotism — the  cancer  of  which 
England  is  dying.  Mr.  ,  who  will  be  an  in- 
fluential person  in  the  university  matters,  belongs, 

to  speak  honestly,  to  this  party;  so  does  Mr.  

(whom  you  will  find  in  the  counting-house  of  his 

letter ;  at  present,  the  name  Whig  sig-nifies  something  different. 
Besides,  it  must  not  be  forgotten,Pt]iat  Mr.  Niebuhr,  though  an 
attentive  observer  of  his  own  time  as  it  passed  on,  had  received 
many  impressions  when  the  Whigs  stood  in  a  still  different 
position  from  what  they  occupied  in  1827.  In  general,  I  can 
only  say,  that  many  readers,  though  far  from  subscribing  to  the 
modem  poHtical  inconsistencies,  (each  period  has  its  own,)  will 
think  that  Mr.  Niebuhr,  in  some  cases,  looked  back  upon  past 
times  with  too  much  fondness,  tlius  undervaluing  tlie  present 
time,  as  is  not  unfrequently  the  case  with  historians. 
•  1st  eine  schaale  Weisheit,  are  the  words  of  the  original. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  37 

company,  No.  — ,  street. )    Go  to  both  with 

my  most  pressing  recommendations  :  both  are  vio- 
lent political  economists,  so  take  a  little  care  what 
you  say.  My  name  may  also  perhaps  be  of  use 
with  Mr.  Brougham:  try  to  become  acquainted  with 
him;  I  know  you  will  make  him  soon  feel  interest- 
ed in  you.  Endeavour  to  become  acquainted  with 
Mr.  Grote,  who  is  engaged  on  a  Greek  History  ; 
he,  too,  will  receive  you  well  if  you  take  him  my 
regards.*  If  you  become  better  acquainted  with 
him,  it  is  worth  your  while  to  obtain  the  proof- 
sheets  of  his  work,  in  order  to  translate  it:  I  expect 
a  great  deal  from  this  production,  and  will  get  you 
here  a  publisher.  If  the  Marquis  of  Lansdown  has 
it  in  his  power  to  be  useful  to  you,  go  by  all  means 
to  him  :  my  name,  I  feel  sure,  will  be  of  use  with 
him.  You  ought  to  look  around  for  other  works 
besides  that  of  Mr.  Grote;  for  instance,  the  Journey 
to  Cyrenaica  will  probably  find  no  other  translator. 
Journeys  of  this  kind,  which  contain  inscriptions, 
Sic.  would  meet  with  publishers  in  Germany,  espe- 
cially if  a  philologer — for  instance  myself — would 
add  some  notes  and  a  preface  :  but  for  this  it  would 
be  necessary  to  have  the  original.  If  you  will  send  in- 
scriptions of  the  Journey  in  Cyrenaica,  but  copied  in 

*  1  had  already  become  acquainted  with  that  gentleman 
through  the  kindness  of  Mrs.  Austin. 

4 


38  REMINISCENCES 

the  most  careful  possible  way,  with  what  the  author 
says/written  on  the  thinnest  letter-paper,  and  hus- 
banding the  room,  directed  to  Mr.  Weber,  in  Bonn, 
and  inside  to  the  Privy-counsellor  Niebuhr,  for  the 
Rhenish  Museum,  I  can  offer  you  two  frederics- 
d'or  for  each  sheet  which  the  inscriptions  and  trans- 
lations with  my  notes  may  occupy.  But  they  must 
be  most  carefully  copied!  You  would  no  doubt  find 
some  one  with  whose  aid  you  might  compare  them. 
Give  always  the  titles  with  great  accuracy. — 1  wish 
to  know  how  the  undertaking  of  Messrs.  Hare  and 
Thistlewood  proceeds. — Room  is  wanting  to  write 
more:  indeed,  my  time,  too,  is  limited.  For  five 
quarters  of  a  year  I  have  worked  at  my  History 
with  an  effort  which  has  nearly  exhausted  my 
strength  :  I  find  it  difficult  now  to  continue;"  &.c. 

Befoi'e  I  embarked  for  America,  I  communicated 
to  Mr.  Niebuhr  my  wish  to  enter  into  a  connexion 
with  the  best  German  paper;  and  in  Boston  I  re- 
ceived a  long  letter  from  him,  dated  September 
13th,  1827,  of  which  the  following  are  exti'acts. 

'^I  have  received  your  farewell  letter  from  Lon- 
don, my  dear  friend,  and,  via  Hamburgh,  the  letter 
which  you  wrote  at  sea.  This  shows  me  that  you 
have  safely  arrived  in  the  New  World,  though  you 
have  not  added  anything  on  this  point.  From  New 
York  you  will  have  gone  on  good  roads  and  in 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  39 

coaches,  probably  very  different  from  those  which 
are  described  by  former  travellers,  to  Boston,  where 
I  and  all  my  family  not  only  wish  from  all  our 
hearts,  but  confidently  hope,  that  you  will  be  happy, 
as  far  as  this  is  possible  in  a  foreign  and  not  inspiring 
country.  I  approve  of  your  resolution  to  go  to 
America  so  entirely,  that  had  you  been  able  to  ask 
my  advice  beforehand,  I  should  have  unqualifiedly 
urged  you  to  go:  for  there  is  little  happiness  in 
England  for  him  who  does  not  stand  in  the  centre 
of  the  briskest  activity, — who,  as  a  foreigner  must 
do,  has  but  the  looking  on.  The  New-England 
States  in  which  you  live  are  indeed  worthy  of  the 
name;  which,  south  of  the  Potomac,  would  not  be 
befitting.  It  is  England  without  any  aristocracy  and 
tradition,  active  and  busy  only  in  the  material  world; 
hence  without  beautiful  illusions,  but  also  without 
English  political  hypocrisy.  Only  beware  that  you 
do  not  fall  into  an  idolatry  of  the  country,  and  that 
state  of  things  which  is  so  dazzling  because  it  shows 
the  material  world  in  a  favourable  light.  You  are 
able  to  do  this  if  you  will  be  watchful  over  yourself : 
you  have  judgment  and  philosophical  tact  enough  to 
protect  yourself.  Remain  a  German,  and  without 
counting  hour  and  day,  yet  say  to  yourself  that  the 
hour  and  day  will  come  when  you  will  be  able  to 
return. 


40  REMINISCENCES 

"Agreeably  to  your  desire  to  retain  some  literary 
connexion  with  Germany,  I  wrote  to  Baron  Cotta, 
of  whom  you  also  have  thought.  As  the  Allge- 
meine  Zeitung  has  no  correspondent  in  America,  I 
counted  upon  a  favourable  reception  ;  and  I  have 
not  been  disappointed.  Baron  Cotta  offers  5^ou  to 
correspond  for,  1st,  the  Allgemeine  Zeitung;  2d, 
the  Morgenblatt;  3d,  the  Kunstblatt;  4th,  the 
Literary  Gazette;  5th,  the  Polytechnic  Journal; 
6th,  the  Political  Annals ;  and  7th,  for  the  Aus- 
land,  a  journal  solely  destined  for  news  of  foreign 
countries.  #  *  *  * 

In  regard  to  your  correspondence  for  the  All- 
gemeine Zeitung,  1  will  undertake  to  give  you  some 
directions;  as  nearly  all  correspondents  of  this  paper 
(if  not  all  without  exception)  mistake  their  proper 
point  of  view.  I  almost  feel  tempted  to  write  a 
dissertation  on  that  point,  had  I  the  time  for  it ;  but 
I  am  pressed  indeed.  Therefore  abstract  for  your- 
self, and  may  it  suffice  m  conci'eto,  that  the  cor- 
respondence from  the  United  States  must  be  two- 
fold:  Jl.  on  Home  affairs,  B.  on  Foreign  affairs. 

 Ad.  A.  It  has  to  represent,  a  the  state  of  things, 

h  events.  As  respects  r/,  I  think  that  extensive  sta- 
tistical and  ethnographic  accounts  belong  more  pro- 
perly to  larger  collections, — for  instance,  the  Political 
Annals.    But  moral  and  personal  relations,  briefly 


OP  M.  NIEBUHR.  41 

stated,  belong  to  the  paper :  for  instance,  informa- 
tion respecting  the  persons  who  compose  the  govern- 
ment; on  the  relations  between  the  different  states  ; 
whether  there  are  any,  and  if  so,  whether  increasing, 
collisions  between  them ;  powers  and  interests 
which  prepare  great  events  and  changes  ;  the  rela- 
tions to  foreign  countries  ;  &c. — h,  the  events  to  be 
described  are  the  general  ones  of  the  Union,  and 
those  of  the  single  states.  Under  this  head  do  not 
only  belong  political  events,  properly  speaking,  but 
also  legislative  acts;  and  not  only  general  federal 
legislation,  but  also  that  of  single  states  :  for  instance, 
when  a  state  changes  its  constitution,  or  its  civil  or 
criminal  laws  ; — respecting  the  federal  government 
changes,  new  regulations  in  the  army  or  navy,  be- 
sides single  ^statistical  notices,  particularly  compara- 
tive ones,  which  show  the  material  increase  ;  cen- 
suses, &c.    Single  anecdotes  belong  more  properly 

to  the  Morgenblatt.  B.  This  correspondence 

must  comprise  the  neighbouring  British  provinces, 
as  well  as  Mexico  and  South  America.  Pay  espe- 
cial attention  to  the  former,  whence  we  receive  so 
few  descriptions  by  tourists.  You  must  glean  from 
papers  and  pamphlets,  which  reach  Europe  rarely, 
except  when  they  are  sent  to  some  dozen  people  in 
England.  Here,  too,  statistics  are  of  the  greatest 
importance  to  show  improvement  or  the  contrary  ; 
4# 


42  REMINISCENCES 

farther,  accounts  on  the  relation  between  the  mother 
country  and  the  colonies.  Respecting  the  indepen- 
dent states  you  must  write  in  the  same  way  as  has 
been  stated  with  regard  to  the  United  States.  The 
task  is  not  easy  !  I  require  of  a  correspondent  of  a 
newspaper  the  same  that  I  endeavoured  to  do  in 
my  reports  to  the  king  when  I  was  minister,  and 
what  I  as  secretary-of-state  for  foreign  affairs  should 
expect  from  every  diplomatic  agent.  It  is  all-im- 
portant to  be  conscientious  and  true  to  the  letter. 
The  correspondent  of  a  newspaper  is  the  ambassador, 
not  of  its  proprietor,  but  of  the  public.  Before  you 
begin  your  correspondence,  look  calmly  around, 
and  find  your  true  point  of  view.  Respecting  the 
feud  between  the  northern  and  southern  states,  I  am 
decidedly  Yankee  and  Anti-Virginian.  But  being 
fifty-one  years  old,  should  I  get  there,  I  neither 
would  trust  the  former  unconditionally,  nor  disap- 
prove of  the  others  unconditionally.        *  * 

"  One  thing  I  cannot  sufficiently  recommend  to 
you — you  must  not  take  it  amiss,  my  best  friend; 
it  is  indeed  not  intended  as  reflecting  upon  you,  but 
it  must  be  a  vast,  extensive  shoal,  because  all  news- 
paper correspondents  wreck  upon  it  :  no  political 
dissertations  and  generalities^  but  facts  simply 
and  concisely  related.  If  you  meet  with  notices  of 
discoveries,  whether  from  the  South  Sea,  the  in- 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  43 

terior  of  America,  the  Columbia  river,  or  from  the 
back  settlements  on  the  Missouri,  Arkansas,  &c. 
think  of  your  friend,  that  you  give  him  great  plea- 
sure with  these  things,  and  send  them  for  insertion 
in  the  extra  sheets  of  the  Allgemeine  Zeitung  ;  for 
this  paper  is  tlie  only  one  of  the  whole  circle  which 
I,  so  horridly  pressed  for  time,  look  at. 

"  In  writing  to  you  to  Boston,  I  feel  heavily  an 

old  debt  of  correspondence  to  Mr.  of  Boston, 

with  regard  to  himself  individually  on  account  of 
his  honourable  article  on  my  History,  and  as  secre- 
tary of  the  Academy,  in  whose  name  he  has  honour- 
ed me  with  a  letter.    How  old  is  this  debt  !  But  if 

Mr.  ,  and  every  other  person  who  considers 

himself  neglected  by  me,  knew  in  what  degree  I 
am  overburdened  with  labour  since  I  have  resumed 
the  continuation  of  my  History,  they  would  all 
pardon  me.    Besides  the  History,  I  have  now  also 

The  Museum,"  (a  periodical,)' and  the  direction 
of  the  new  edition  of  the  Byzantine  Historians.  I 
may  say,  that  the  latter  alone  would  be  quite  suffi- 
cient to  bend  down  many  a  one,  especially  one  who 
delivers  lectures  at  the  same  time.  It  causes  an 
indispensable  correspondence,  which  cannot  be  de- 
layed. In  addition  to  this,  I  must  mention  the 
abominable  loss  of  time  by  travellers.  This  one 
thing  I  beg  of  you,  my  dear  friend, — don't  give 


44  REMINISCENCES 

easily  letters  of  introduction  :  these  people  murder 
my  time.*    Therefore  give  my  very  best  regards 

to  Mr.   ,  and  tell  him,  that,  notwithstanding 

my  silence,  I  am  very  grateful  to  him.  I  believe 
I  do  not  err  in  being  desirous  that  you  should  se- 
lect him  especially  as  your  friend  in  the  other  he- 
misphere, and  that  you  should  confer  with  him 
respecting  the  correspondence.  Perhaps  you  will 
communicate  to  him  from  this  letter.  The  paper 
is  filled  to  the  very  margin,  and  therefore  I  can  only 
add,  God  bless  you  !  My  wife  and  children  send 
their  love.  Marcus  thinks  and  speaks  of  you  as  if 
we  had  left  Rome  but  a  few  weeks  ago.  I  wish  to 
hear  from  you :  if  I  do  not  write,  do  not  stop  on 
that  account.  To-day  I  have  done  you  a  real  act  of 
friendship.  My  wife's  health  is  but  middling  ;  that 
of  the  children  excellent  ;  my  own  declining. 
Yours,"  &c.  &c. 

Mr.  Niebuhr's  lamented  death  took  place  in  Ja- 
nuary 1831. 

It  has  been  my  purpose  to  show  in  what  relation  I 
stood  to  that  excellent  man;  but  I  have  not  pretend- 
ed to  exhibit  all  that  he  was  to  me,  nor  what  I  owe 

*  It  is  known  of  Ernesti,  that  when  a  person  extended  a  visit 
over  ten  minutes,  he  would  rise,  point  at  a  large  clock,  and  say, 
"  You  have  been  here  ten  minutes." 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  45 

him,  strongly  impressed  as  my  mind  has  been  by 
such  an  association  ;  1  therefore  here  close  my  rela- 
tion. 

The  judicious  reader  will  easily  distinguish  among 
the  following  aphorisms  those  which  express  Mr. 
Niebuhr's  settled  opinion,  from  others  which  show 
an  occasional  view  he  may  have  taken  ;  though  all, 
it  appears  to  me,  are  serviceable  in  drawing  a  more 
accurate  picture  of  him. 

To  many  it  will  not  be  uninteresting  to  know^ 
something  of  the  habits  and  personal  peculiarities  of 
so  distinguished  a  man. 

Mr.  Niebuhr  was  small  in  stature  and  thin  ;  his 
voice,  of  a  very  high  pitch.  He  could  not  see  well 
at  a  distance,  and  made  sometimes  strange  mistakes. 
Spectacles  were  indispensable  to  him  ;  and  I  had 
once  to  make  a  day's  journey  in  order  to  fetch  his 
Dolland's,  which  had  been  forgotten.  He  lived  very 
frugally;  wine  and  water  was  his  usual  beverage: 
he  valued  good  wine,  but  did  not  drink  it  often. 
He  frequently  shaved  while  walking  up  and  down 
the  room  ;  and  when  I  was  present,  he  would  even 
talk  during  this  dangerous  operation.  He  disliked 
smoking  very  much,  but  took  snuff  to  such  an  ex- 
cess, that  he  had  finally  to  give  it  up.  He  did  not 
write,  as  the  ancient  scholar,  a  whole  book  with  one 
pen  ;  but  he  used  a  pen  a  very  long  time  before  he 


46  REMINISCENCES 

mended  it,  turning  it  all  round  so  as  to  use  always 
its  sharp  point.  Yet  he  wrote  a  neat  and  legible 
hand. 

His  rare  memory  enabled  him  to  study  frequent- 
ly without  a  pen;  and  I  found  him  sometimes  in  a 
lying  posture  on  a  sofa,  holding  the  work  of  an  an- 
cient writer  over  his  head.  These  were  not  works 
which  he  read  by  wa}-  of  relaxation;  but,  not  unfre- 
quently,  those  he  studied  with  the  keenest  atten- 
tion. His  memory,  indeed,  was  almost  inconceiv- 
able to  others.  He  remembered  almost  everything 
he  read  at  any  period  of  his  life.  He  was  about 
twenty  years  old  when  he  studied  at  Edinburgh, 
and  I  was  present  when  he  conversed  at  Rome 
with  an  English  gentleman  upon  some  statistical 
statement  which  he  had  read  in  the  English  pa- 
pers at  the  time  of  his  residence  in  that  country. 
The  statement  was  important  to  the  stranger,  a 
member  of  parliament,  if  I  remember  right;  and 
Mr.  Niebuhr  desired  me  to  take  pen  and  paper,  and 
forthwith  dictated  to  me  a  considerable  column  of 
numbers,  to  the  great  surprise  of  the  English  visitor. 
What  an  immense  power  such  a  man  would  have 
in  a  deliberative  assembly,  merely  on  account  of  his 
unrelaxing  memory!  he  did  not  undervalue  the 
great  importance  of  this  faculty,  which  though  it  be 
but  an  instrument,  is  the  most  useful  and  indispensa- 


OP  M.  NIEBUHR.  -  47 

ble  of  all  instruments  in  all  pursuits,  disregarded  by 
those  only  who  have  none.  Nor  is  a  retentive  me- 
mory without  its  moral  value  both  for  individuals 
and  nations  ;  and  there  was  truth  in  the  remark  of 
Goethe's  friend  in  Strasburg,  that  a  man  with  a  bad 
memory  was  necessarily  exposed  to  the  vice  of  ingra- 
titude. 

Mr.  Niebuhr  and  myself  had  conversed  one  day 
on  the  great  power  which  a  man  with  a  tenacious 
memory  often  has  over  another  not  equally  gifted, 
merely  by  an  array  of  facts  and  dates,  though  the 
strength  of  the  argument  may  be  decidedly  on  the 
other  side  ;  and  how  necessary  it  therefore  becomes 
to  cultivate  the  memory.  He  said,  "Without  a 
strong  memory  1  never  should  have  been  able  to 
write  my  History,  for  extracts  and  notes  would  not 
have  been  sufficient ;  they  would  again  have  formed 
an  inaccessible  mass,  had  I  not  possessed  the  index 
in  my  mind." 

Gibbon,  though  he  does  not  say  how  much  he 
owes  of  his  whole  frame  to  his  excellent  memory, 
gives  us  at  least  an  anecdote  in  his  "  Memoirs  of  my 
Life  and  Writings,'^*  which  proves  in  how  great  a 

*  Gibbon  says  : — "  The  ode  which  he  (Voltaire)  had  com- 
posed on  his  first  arrival  on  the  banks  of  the  Leman  Lake,  *  0 
maism  d'Aristippe  !  Ojardin  d^Epicure,'  &c.  had  been  impart- 


48  REMINISCENCES 

degree  he  enjoyed  this  blessing,  and  justly  valued 
it.  It  is  very  evident  that  the  soundest  judgment 
and  clearest  mind  could  not  have  penetrated  into 
the  moving  causes  of  the  ages  he  describes,  had  not 
his  memory  always  held  in  readiness  all  the  innu- 
merable facts,  from  which  it  is  the  historian's  duty 
to  make  his  abstracts. 

Mackintosh,  no  mean  authority  for  the  true  way 
of  studying  history,  says  :  The  genius  of  history  is 
nourished  by  the  study  of  original  narrators,  and  by 
critical  examination  of  the  minute  circumstances  of 
facts.  Ingenious  speculations  and  ostentatious  orna- 
ments are  miserable  substitutes  for  these  historical 
virtues  ;  and  their  place  is  still  worse  supplied  by 
the  vivacity  or  pleasantry  which,  where  it  is  most 
successful,  will  most  completely  extinguish  that  se- 
rious and  deep  interest  in  tlie  affairs  of  men  which 
the  historian  aims  to  inspire.''  Generally,  there 
will  be  found  to  exist  some  connexion  between  a 
disposition  to  deal  in  generalities,  and  a  want  of  pa- 

ed  as  a  secret  to  the  gentleman  by  whom  I  was  introduced.  He 
allowed  me  to  read  it  twice  ;  I  knew  it  by  heart ;  and  as  my  dis- 
cretion was  not  equal  to  my  memory,  the  author  was  soon  dis- 
pleased by  the  circulation  of  the  copy.  In  writing  this  trivial 
anecdote,  I  wished  to  observe  whether  my  memory  was  impair- 
ed, and  I  have  the  comfort  of  finding  that  every  line  of  the 
poem  is  still  engraved  in  fresh  and  indelible  characters." 


OP  M.  NIEBUHR.  49 

tient  study  of  historical  details,  or  of  that  good  me- 
mory which  enables  the  student  to  feel  at  home  in 
past  ages  almost  as  much  as  in  his  own,  by  keeping 
all  the  minor  facts  in  a  vivid  picture  before  his  mind 
— present  without  a  conscious  mental  exertion,  as  if 
it  were  reality  itself.  This  is  not  only  true  of  his- 
torians, but  of  philosophers,  and  any  other  persons 
occupying  themselves  with  reasoning  upon  import- 
ant points.  Rousseau  would,  probably,  not  have 
drawn  so  largely  upon  sentimental  emotions  and 
views  suggested  by  feelings,  had  not  his  weak  me- 
mory, of  which  he  complains  so  much,  made  it  im- 
possible for  him  to  judge  more  distinctly  from  facts, 
and  experience  derived  from  them. 

When  we  travelled  home  from  Rome,  Mr.  Nie- 
buhr  had  hii^d  two  vetturini  for  his  {wo  carriages, 
who  took  us  as  far  as  Inspruck.  One  of  them  knew 
neither  how  to  read  nor  to  write  ;  the  other  was  pret- 
ty well  able  to  keep  his  accounts:  both  h;ul  to  account 
to  their  masters  for  all  their  expenses  and  receipts, 
on  their  return  to  Rome.  The  one  who  had  learn- 
ed to  write  seemed  to  us  to  be  continually  troubled 
with  making  his  expenses  square  with  the  sums  he 
had  received  from  Mr.  Niebuhr,  while  his  com- 
panion appeared  to  be  in  no  such  trouble.  On  our 
inquiry,  we  found  that  the  latter  actually  relied 
solely  on  his  memory,  and  that  he  was  able  to  name 

5 


50 


REMINISCENCES 


every  trifling  expense  for  himself  and  his  horses, 
and  where  and  when  he  had  made  it.  It  was  an  as- 
tonishing feat  of  memory,  and  Mr.  Niebuhr  said, 
"After  all,  Plato  was  not  so  wrong  in  what  he  says 
of  the  invention  of  letters."* 

•  In  the  Phsedrus,  274  and  275,  we  find  the  following-  as  said 
by  Socrates  : — 

"I  have  heard  that  one  of  the  old  gods  had  been  atNaucrates 
in  Eg-ypt,  to  whom  also  the  bh'd  called  Ibis  was  sacred  ;  but  he 
himself,  the  g-od,  was  called  Theuth.  He  is  said  to  have  invent- 
ed numbers  and  the  art  of  calculation  ;  furthermore,  g-eometry 
and  astronomy,  and  also  the  game  at  draughts  and  dice,  and 
likewise  letters.  At  that  time  Thamus  is  said  to  have  been  king 
of  all  Egypt,  in  the  large  city  of  the  ui>per  country,  which  the 
Greeks  call  the  Egyptian  Thebes, — tlie  god  himself,  however, 
Ammon.  To  him  Theuth  is  said  to  have  gone,  to  have  shown 
his  inventions,  and  to  have  asked  that  they  shouKl  be  communi- 
cated to  the  other  Egyptians.  The  former  asked  of  what  use  # 
each  invention  would  be  ;  and  he  praised  or  blamed  according 
to  whether  he  thought  what  Theuth  said  just  or  unjust.  Tha- 
mus is  said  to  have  replied  to  Theuth  a  great  deal  for  and 
against  each  art,  which  would  be  too  extensive  to  be  mentioned 
here.  But  when  they  got  to  the  letters,  Theuth  said,  *'  This  art, 
O  king,  will  make  the  Egyptians  wiser  and  stronger  in  memo- 
ry, for  it  has  been  invented  as  a  means  for  the  understanding 
and  memory."  But  the  other  said,  "  O  ingenious  I'heuth,  some 
know  how  to  bring  to  light  that  which  belongs  to  the  arts, 
others  to  judge  how  much  advantage  or  disadvantage  they  will 
bring  those  who  make  use  of  them.  Thus  thou,  too,  hast 
said  this  moment,  as  the  father  of  letters,  from  love  for  them. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  51 

A  peculiarity  not  less  striking  was,  that  Mr.  Nie- 
buhr  was  able  to  study  and  write  when  there  was 
great  noise  around  him.  Neither  the  playing  of  his 
children  in  the  same  room,  nor  the  loud  conversa- 
tion of  others,  would  disturb  him  when  he  had  once 
taken  the  pen  ;  reminding  us  of  Lambert,  whose 
power  of  abstraction  is  said  to  have  enabled  him  to 
write  some  of  his  most  luminous  papers  on  mathe- 
matics and  optics  in  the  corner  of  a  frequented  room 
of  a  public  coffee-house. 

Though  the  whole  range  of  the  classics  was  ever 
present  to  his  mind,  which  appeared  most  forcibly 

the  contrary  of  that  which  they  will  actually  effect.  For  this  in- 
vention will  fill  with  forg-etfulness  rather  the  souls  of  the  learners, 
on  account  of  their  neglect  of  the  memory  ;  as,  relying"  on  these 
letters,  they  will  remember  things  rather  from  without  by  means 
of  signs  foreign  to  the  matter,  but  not  within  them  and  directly. 
Not,  therefore,  for  the  memory,  but  only  for  remembrance, 
thou  hast  invented  a  means  ;  and  only  the  appearance,  not  the 
essence,  thou  shalt  convey  to  thy  disciples.  For,  having  heard 
much  without  instruction,  they  will  also  believe  themselves  to 
be  possessed  of  much  knowledge,  though  they  are  ignorant  and 
difficult  to  be  treated,  after  they  have  become  conceited  in- 
stead of  wise." 

There  are,  doubtlesss,  more  finished  translations  in  existence; 
but  having  a  copy  of  Plato  in  the  original  only  at  hand,  I  give 
the  above,  which  will  answer  as  well  for  the  purpose  for  which 
it  is  quoted  here. 


52  REMINISCENCES 

when  he  met  with  a  new  inscription,  or  ruin,  the 
remains  of  a  manuscript,  or  the  like;  yet  he  hardly 
ever  quoted  for  ornament;  nor  did  he  interlard  his 
letters  or  other  communications  with  passages  from 
the  ancient  writers.  I  do  not  remember  that  he  ever 
expressed  himself  on  the  subject,  but  I  believe  it 
would  not  have  suited  his  mind.  That  he  was  too 
familiar  with  them  to  be  vain  of  quotations,  is  a 
matter  of  course;  but  I  believe,  besides,  that  quota- 
tions of  the  kind  would  not  have  been  congenial  to 
his  cast  of  mind,  which  looked  too  much  at  the  real 
state  of  things  in  antiquity,  to  indulge  in  these  orna- 
mental illustrations,  except  when  some  truly  witty 
application  could  be  made.  Instead  of  believing  that 
great  weight  w^as  attached  to  a  sentiment  merely  be- 
cause it  had  been  stated  by  a  very  remote  authority, 
he  frequently  illustrated  antiquity  by  instancei  taken 
from  modern  times,  as  his  History  shows.  It  may 
be  remembered  here,  that  the  preface  to  his  History 
of  Rome  contains  but  three  quotations:  one  of  them, 
from  an  ancient  writer,  is  given  by  him  in  German; 
another  is  from  Goethe;  and  the  only  one  in  a 
foreign  language  is  in  Spanish;  and  all  are  so  simple, 
that  they  almost  lose  the  character  of  quotations. 

In  general  it  may  be  observed,  that  quotations  from 
the  classics,  or,  in  fact,  from  any  authors,  for  ostenta- 
tion or  as  mere  ornament  of  speech,  seem  to  be  con- 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  53 

sidered  by  the  Germans  as  pedantic,  or,  perhaps,  as 
betraying  the  pleasure  which  the  quoting  author  or 
orator  derives  from  having  overcome  the  difficulty 
of  learning  a  foreign  language.  There  was,  indeed, 
a  time  when  the  ^'  director"  of  a  German  gymnasium 
would  have  believed  that  he  might  lend  additional 
strength  to  the  different  lines  of  the  multiplication- 
table,  could  he  show  that  Cicero  had  happened  to  men- 
tion one  of  them;  but  at  j, resent  quoting  is  not 
fashionable  among  the  learned  Germans.  All  of  them 
read  too  much  to  be  proud  of  it;  nor  have  they, 
generally  speaking,  so  much  regard  for  authorities, 
in  whatever  branch  of  the  sciences  or  arts,  as  to  con- 
sider insertions  from  early  writers  valuable  addi- 
tions to  the  strength  of  their  composition.  It  is 
quite  diflferent  with  regard  to  the  respect  they  pay  to 
the  history  of  every  subject :  there,  pedantry  is 
often  on  the  side  of  the  Germans. 

The  German  taste  with  regard  to  this  point  is  an- 
other instance  of  the  different  view  the  German  and 
English  nations  take  of  the  period  which,  with  the 
Germans,  is  sometimes  called  the  age  of  wigs — 
somewhat  synonymous  with  the  age  of  stiffness  or 
pedantry.  This  meaning  would  by  no  means  be  at- 
tachcd  to  a  similar  expression  in  England,  neither 
with  regard  to  politics  nor  literature.    On  a  former 

5* 


54  REMINISCENCES 

occasion  I  have  spoken  more  fully  on  this  striking 
difference.*  Mr.  Niebuhr  liked  the  simplest  style 
of  writing;  though  his  earlier  German  may  some- 
times betray  his  intimate  familiarity  with  Latin. 

He  cannot  be  said  to  have  been  of  a  decidedly 
gay  disposition  ;  yet  he  loved  hilarity  and  relished  a 
joke.  He  greatly  enjoyed  the  broad  comedy  of  S. 
Carlino  in  Naples,  and  we  repaired  often  to  that 
temple  of  hearty  merriment  during  our  stay  in  this 
city.  I  could  always  amuse  him  by  telling  him  of 
some  ludicrous  occurrence.  He  was  a  good  man, 
and  therefore  open  to  mirth.  "  Come,"  said  he  one 
day  at  Naples,  "  let  us  see  the  macaroni-eaters 
again;'^  their  skillful  swallowing  of  the  endless  and 
pliant  pipes  of  this  <^  charming  vegetable,"  as  Scara- 
mouch said,  having  greatly  diverted  him.  Yet  he 
was  far  from  relishing  anything  which  savoured  in 
the  least  of  coarseness.  His  feelings  were  altogether 
refined,  and  those  of  a  finely  organised  mind. 

I  have  found  him  repeatedly  rolling  on  the  ground 
with  his  children  :  nor  did  he  ask  the  beholders 
whether  they  had  any  children,  as  that  personage  did 
who  affords  a  royal  precedent  to  all  fathers  that  love 
to  play  on  the  ground  with  their  offspring. 

*  In  "The  Stranger  in  America,"  vol,  i.  pages  116  et  seq. 
in  the  London  edition;  pages  75  and  76  in  the  Philadelphia  edi- 
tion. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  55 

His  simplicity  was  very  great  :  he  could  forgive 
where  others  would  have  long  remembered.  Frank- 
ness was  a  peculiarly  striking  feature  in  his  admira- 
ble character.  I  found  him  one  day  pale,  and  asked 
him  whether  he  did  not  feel  well.  "  I  feel  sad," 
said  he,  *'and  have  not  slept  well.  1  have  punished 
my  Marcus  last  night,  for  I  felt  convinced  he  had 
not  told  me  the  truth;  proofs  appeared  to  be  con- 
vincing: and  yet,  I  found  afterwards  that  he  was  in- 
nocent." He  asked  the  child's  pardon  several  times. 
His  love  to  his  chik^ren  was  exceedingly  great ;  and 
he  held  his  first  wife  (not  the  mother  of  these  chil- 
dren) in  sacred  memory.  I  have  seen  him  and  his 
second  wife,  a  relative  to  his  first,  standing  before 
her  portrait  in  silent  contemplation.  She  had  been 
an  uncommon  woman,  to  whom  he  read  everything 
before  publication.  He  said  once  to  me,  he  thought 
that,  except  medical  and  law  books,  few  others  ought 
to  be  written,  so  that  they  might  not  be  read  by  wo- 
men; and  it  was  he  who  advised  me  to  give  in  a 
Latin  note  to  my  Journey  in  Greece,  what  he  con- 
sidered too  interesting  to  be  omitted,  and  yet  unfit- 
led  to  be  read  by  females.*  "  If,"  added  he,  "  a  lady 

*  He  added  himself  to  the  note  the  followhig- words,  as  if  writ- 
ten by  me: — "  Denique  hoc  moneo,  me,  Ang-lorum  exemplo,  qui 
in  itinerum  narratione  perscribenda  fedas  quasdum  res  neces- 


56  REMINISCENCES 

knows  Latin,  why  then  it  is  enough  for  the  author 
to  have  shown  that  the  part  in  Latin  is  not  intended 
for  her.'^ 

Having  spoken  of  that  note  to  my  Journal,  so 
painfully  interesting  to  the  student  of  the  causes  of 
general  morality  or  depravity,  I  will  add  here,  that 
the  testis  idoneus,  mentioned  there  as  having  com- 
municated to  me  the  information  of  that  conspiracy 
of  peasants  in  a  part  of  northern  Germany,  which  is 
as  peculiar  as  it  is  odious  and  strikingly  interesting  to 
the  political  economist,  is  Mr*  Niehuhr  himself 
(See  page  77  of  my  Journal  in  Greece,  quoted  be- 
fore.) 

His  physical  courage  was  not  great,  though  his 
conviction  and  feeling  of  duly  would  have  prompted 
him  to  expose  himself  to  any  danger.  He  was  easily 
thrown  into  alarm  with  regard  to  himself  as  well 
as  to  his  fimily.  A  fish-bone  which  stuck  in  his 
throat  during  our  dinner  at  Mola  di  Gaeta  threw 
him  into  complete  terror. 

His  mind  was  formed  to  observe  man  in  his  va- 
rious relations,  such  as  commerce,  agriculture,  and 

sario  attigerunt,  Latino  sermone  usum  esse  in  his  rebus  dispu- 
tandis,  ne  scilicet  matronarum  pudorem  offenderem,  quas  k  li- 
bello  meo  perlegendo  minime  absterrita?,  neque,  ilium  legisse, 
lis  rubori  esse  veliem." 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  57 

politics.  He  took  delight  in  applying  the  know- 
ledge thus  gathered  to  times  long  gone  by,  but  fa- 
miliar to  him  by  persevering  study,  extensive 
knowledge  of  languages,  and  a  vivid  memory.  He 
was  a  politician  in  history,  and  a  historical  philol- 
ogist. His  power  of  combination  was  remarkable, 
as  the  reader  may  know  from  his  works.  This 
formed  the  strength  of  his  mind.  Though  he  loved 
the  fine  arts,  and  was  delighted  by  master-works, 
still,  I  believe,  he  iiad  no  acute  eye  for  them  ;  nor 
was  his  love  of  the  fine  arts  a  matter  of  the  inmost 
soul.  They  did  not  form  a  sphere  in  which  his 
mind  moved  with  independence. 

With  regard  to  politics,  Mr.  Niebuhr  must  be 
classed  with  those  who  look  back  rather  than  for- 
ward. His  heart  was  with  the  people,  but  he  dis- 
liked many  of  the  modern  political  principles. 

No  scholar  was  ever  more  impartial  than  he  was; 
he  loved  science  wherever  it  appeared.  To  assist 
in  the  furtherance  of  a  clever  botanical  work  was  as 
important  to  him  as  any  historical  inquiry;  and  he 
told  me  once,  that  he  had  proposed  at  the  time  of 
the  humiliation  of  Prussia,  that  the  members  of  the 
royal  academy,  of  which  he  was  himself  one,  should 
give  up  the  small  salary  they  enjoyed  as  acadami- 
cians,  in  order  to  call  one  of  the  first  mathematicians 
for  the  joint  sum  to  Berlin, 


58  REMINISCENCES  OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 

He  was  quick,  and  at  limes  impatient,  as  most 
men  of  active  mind  are.  One  day  he  was  very 
angry  with  a  servant  whom  he  had  called  repeated- 
ly and  who  made  him  wait  a  long  while,  when  the 
time  of  an  important  appointment  with  Cardinal 
Consalvi  had  already  passed.  Ah  Eccellenza,^^ 
said  the  servant,  viaggi  in  questo  palazzo  sono 
lunghi.^^  I  could  not  help  laughing  at  this  hyper- 
bolical speech ;  and  Mr.  Niebuhr  soon  joined  me, 
though  his  situation  was  indeed  a  trying  one.  Ano- 
ther servant  said  on  a  similar  occasion,  and  with  simi- 
lar effect : — "  Che  vuol  che  dica  ?  Se  avessi per  ogni 
cosa  una  testa  sola 

All  the  sentiments  of  the  succeeding  pages,  which 
are  given  without  farther  remark  of  my  own,  are 
to  taken  as  the  literal  expressions  of  Mr.  Niebuhr 
himself. 


Philadelphia,  April  1835. 


REiMINISCENCES. 


Liberty  depends  not  only  upon  the  legislative 
branch. 

In  most  of  the  late  attempts  at  establishing  free 
institutions,  nations  have  committed  the  great  mis- 
take of  seeking  liberty  in  the  legislative  branch 
only,  or  mainly  ;  but  liberty  depends  at  least  as 
much  upon  the  administrative  branch*  as  upon  any 
other.  The  English  are  the  only  modern  European 
nation  who  have  acted  differently  ;  and  the  freedom 
of  North  America  rests  upon  this  great  gift  from 
Old  England  even  more  than  on  the  representative 
form  of  her  government,  or  anything  else.  We  are 
swallowed  up  by  bureaucracy  ;  all  public  spiriit  is 
smothered.  And  then,  of  what  use  is  a  representa- 
tive and  debating  council,  as  in  France,  if  all  the  rest 
is  founded  on  the  principle  of  this  concentrated  bu- 

*  Vei-waUung  was  the  German  word, 
f  Gemeinsinn  was  the  word  he  used. 


60 


REMINISCENCES 


reaucracy — if  the  minister  has  to  carry  out  the  ge- 
neral law  into  all  its  details  ?  With  such  a  power,  a 
chamber  can  generally  be  bought ;  and  then  the  min- 
isterial influence  is  but  the  more  absolute,  while  all 
odium  falls  upon  the  nominal  law-makers.  But 
here  (in  Rome),  in  Spain,  and  in  Portugal,  there  are 
neither  the  British  principle,  nor  bureaucratic  order, 
and  system,  and  precision.  In  these  countries  there 
is  an  independent  action  of  the  different  members, 
but  not  of  the  minor  circles.  Our  Siein*  has  done 
much  to  re-introduce  this  healthy  action. 

*  Charles,  Baron  de  Stein,  for  some  time  Prussian  minister  of 
state, — un  certain  Stein,  as  the  Moniteur  called  him,  when  an 
intercepted  letter  had  shown  that  he  was  secretly  preparing  for 
the  deliverance  of  Germany  from  the  French,  and  Napoleon  had 
outlawed  him.  The  tendency  of  the  Prussian  government,  as 
in  fact  that  of  almost  every  government  on  the  continent  of 
Europe,  had  been,  for  a  long  time,  to  concentrate  as  much  as 
possible  all  power,  and  to  rule  by  a  uniform  bureaucracy.  Mr. 
de  Stein,  equally  far  from  approving  the  modern  principles  of 
liberal  representative  government,  as  from  considering  bureau- 
cratic concentration  beneficial  to  the  people,  induced  the  King 
of  Prussia  to  issue  the  well-known  Stadteurdnung  \  an  ordinance 
by  which  the  privilege  of  self-government  was,  in  a  degree, 
restored  to  the  cities  of  the  kingdom.  Mr.  Niebuhr,  who  enter- 
tained a  very  high  opinion  of  Baron  de  Stein,  also  believed  that 
this  Stddteordnung  might  have  become  the  groundwork  of  an 
enlared  and  highly  beneficial  system  of  legislation  had  Stein 
remained  in  office.  He  expresses  this  view  in  the  preface  to 
the  work  mentioned  in  the  next  note. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


61 


England, 

My  early  residence  in  England  gave  me  one  im- 
portant key  to  Roman  history.    It  is  necessary  to 
know  civil  life  by  personal  observation,  in  order  to 
understand  such  states  as  those  of  antiquity.  I 
never  could  have  understood  a  number  of  thing^  in 
the  history  of  Rome  without  having  observed  Eng- 
land.    Not  that  the  idea  of  writing  the  history  Vf 
Rome  was  then  clear  within  me  ;  but  when,  at  k 
later  period,  this  idea  became  more  and  more  distinctX 
in  my  mind,  all  the  observation  and  experience  I  had 
gained  in  England  came  to  my  aid,  and  the  resolu- 
tion was  taken. 


Niebuhr^s  work  on  Great  Britain^ 

I  published  the  work  on  Great  Britain*  after  that 
unfortunate  time  when  a  foreign  people  ruled  over  us 
(Germans)  with  a  cruel  sword  and  a  heartless  bureau- 
cracy, in  order  to  show  what  liberty  is.  Those 
who  oppressed  us,  called  themselves  all  the  time  the 
harbingers  of  liberty,  at  the  very  moment  they  sucked 

•  Representation  of  the  Internal  Government  of  Great 
Britain,  by  Baron  von  Vincke,  edited  by  B.  G.  Niebuhr.  Berlin, 
1815. 

6 


62  REMINISCENCES 

the  heart-blood  of  our  people ;  and  we  wanted  to 
show  what  liberty  in  reality  is. 

■  /, 


Historiographers  of  Rome. 

Th'3  great  misfortune  has  been,  that,  with  one  or 
two  axeeptions,  those  who  have  written  on  Roman 
his'ory  either  had  not  the  stuff*  for  it,  or  they  were 
nr  statesmen.  Yet  no  one  can  write  a  history  of 
tnis  great  people  without  being  a  statesman,  and  a 
practical  one  too.  * 

The  same. 

No  wonder  that  so  little  has  been  done  in  Roman 
history;  for  a  Roman  historian  ought  to  be  a  sound 
and  well-read  philologer,  and  a  practical  statesman. 

[I  asked  whether  some  periods  of  Roman  history 
did  not  require  also  military  knowledge.  Mr. 
Niebuhr  answered — ] 

Roman  history  can  be  understood  by  a  statesman 
who  is  not  a  general,  but  not  by  a  general  who  is  no 
statesman  ;  for  it  is  the  growth  of  the  law  which 
constitutes  the  essential  part  of  Roman  history. 
Military  knowledge,  in  a  considerable  degree,  is 


*  Zeug  was  his  expression. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  63 

always  necessary,  I  admit;  but  then  this  may  be  ob- 
tained without  one's  being  necessarily  a  soldier. 


Niebuhr  and  Gibbon. 

If  God  will  only  grant  me  a  life  so  long  that  I  may 
end  where  Gibbon  begins ;  it  is  all  I  pray  for. 

[After  a  pause  he  added  : — ]  Yes  ;  if  I  should  be 
spared  longer,  I  would  do  yet  something  more. 
There  is  still  much  to  be  done.  Your  generation 
has  a  great  deal  to  do,  my  friend. 


Carnot. 

For  Carnot  I  feel  great  respect.  In  some  points, 
he  is  the  greatest  man  of  this  century.  His  virtue 
is  of  an  exalted  kind.  When  he  invents  a  new  sys- 
tem of  tactics  to  oppose  the  old  armies  of  Europe, 
hastens  to  the  army,  teaches  how  to  be  victorious 
with  them,  and  returns  to  Paris,  he  appears  great  in- 
deed. However  I  differ  from  his  political  views, 
there  is  a  republican  greatness  in  him  which  com- 
mands respect.  My  love  for  him  may  be  an  ano- 
maly; yet  so  it  is. 


64 


REMINISCENCES 


The  same. 

Had  I  nothing  in  the  wide  world  but  a  piece  of 
bread  left,  I  would  be  proud  of  sharing  it  with  Car- 
not. 


Holland  and  Belgium. —  The  King  and  Queen  of 
the  Netherlands, 

I  used  to  know  the  King  of  the  Netherlands  well, 
when  he  lived  in  great  retirement  in  Berlin,  after 
having  been  driven  from  Holland  by  the  French. 
He  took  great  interest  in  my  History,  and  read  and 
studied  a  good  deal.  He  is  a  character  of  sterling 
worth:  so  is  the  queen;  she  is  a  woman  of  the  purest 
character,  mild  and  charitable.  They  are  a  couple 
wishing  as  anxiously  the  good  of  their  people  as  any 
that  ever  sat  upon  a  throne.  I  believe  there  are  t^ery 
few  women,  in  whatever  rank  of  life,  to  be  com- 
pared in  excellence  to  the  Queen  of  the  Netherlands. 
The  king  asked  my  views  respecting  the  union  of 
Holland  and  Belgium,*  and  the  constitution.  You 

*  I  think  I  am  correct  in  this  statement ;  quite  sure  I  am  that 
he  said  he  had  communicated  his  views  such  as  stated  above  to 
the  king,  which  he  hardly  would  have  done  had  he  not  been 
asked  so  to  do.  But  1  think  he  said  distinctly  that  the  sketch  of 
the  constitution  had  been  shown  him.  I  believe,  moreover,  that 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


65 


know  he  was  averse  to  taking  Belgium.  I  declared 
most  positively  that  this  would  never  do  :  if  Bel- 
gium must  be  under  the  same  sceptre  with  Holland, 
they  ought  at  least  to  remain  separated  like  Norway 
and  Sweden.  There  is,  in  fact,  much  more  reason 
for  separation  with  the  Dutch  and  Belgians.  They 
have  nothing  in  common  :  language,  religion,  inte- 
rests— everything  is  directly  opposed.  The  Bel- 
gians are  poor  copies  of  the  French.  I  cannot  be- 
lieve that  the  present  arrangement  will  end  well :  1 
have  very  serious  fears  and  misgivings.  May  God 
grant  that  my  fears  are  unfounded,  and  my  specula- 
tions will  be  put  to  nought! 


Mr.  Niehuhr^s  knowledge  of  Latin. 

I  am  now  able  to  write  Latin:  it  is  but  within  a 
few  years  that  I  could  say  so.  I  always  could  write 
it,  as  it  is  called;  and  did  so  with  the  pleasure  we 
feel  in  writing  pretty  fluently  in  a  foreign  language, 
especially  an  ancient  one;  but  now  I  feel  the  lan- 
guage is  mine.  I  see  that  I  do  not  only  write  it  cor- 
rectly, but  I  feel  I  write  it  as  my  own  language:  I 

he  said  the  kmg  was  of  his  opinion  as  to  separate  governments 
for  Holland  and  Belgium,  but  that  he  was  outvoted  by  his  coun- 
sellors.— The  above  remark  was  made  in  the  year  1822. 
6  * 


66  REMINISCENCES 

even  prefer  to  express  myself  on  some  subjects  in 
that  idiom.  I  am  pleased  to  see  that  the  Italians 
allow  this  to  me;  for  though  they  have  remained 
greatly  behind  the  Germans  in  philology  and  know- 
ledge of  antiquities,  they  have  always  retained  some 
good  writers  of  Latin.  It  is  still  their  language. 
Look  at  my  Marcus  ;  how  easily  he  reads  the  Latin 
translation  of  Homer  ! 

[Marcus,  Mr.  Niebuhr's  son,  then  about  four 
years  old,  had  learned  Italian  as  his  first  language. 
His  parents  originally  intended  to  talk  German  to 
him,  while  his  nurse,  an  Italian  woman,  taught  him 
the  idiom  of  her  country.  But  the  consequence 
was,  what  by  no  means  is  generally  the  case  under 
similar  circumstances,  that  the  child  would  not  speak 
at  all.  The  parents  then  wisely  resolved  to  give  up 
the  German  for  a  year  or  two.  He  now  learned 
Italian  rapidly ;  and  when  I  entered  the  house  of 
Mr.  Niebuhr,  Marcus  had  begun  to  read  a  Latin 
translation  of  Homer,  in  which  he  made  such  rapid 
progress,  that  he  soon  understood  the  Latin  with 
very  little  assistance  except  that  of  his  own  Italian.] 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


67 


Homer. 

What  wisdom  there  is  in  Homer!  With  a  few 
omissions,  it  is  the  very  book  for  children.  I  know 
of  no  story,  except  Robinson  Crusoe,  which  fasci- 
nates a  child  so  much  as  Homer.  It  is  all  natural, 
simple,  and  capable  of  being  understood  by  a  child. 
And  then,  how  well  does  he  not  prepare  for  all  the 
knowledge  of  antiquity,  without  which  we  cannot 
now  get  along!  How  many  thousand  things  and 
sayings  does  the  child  not  understand  at  once  by 
knowing  that  great  poem!  The  whole  Odyssey  is 
the  finest  story  for  a  child. 

Have  you  ever  read  Pope's  Odyssey.^  [I  answer- 
ed in  the  negative.] 

Well,  he  replied,  you  must  read  some  parts  of  it 
at  least;  it  is  a  ridiculous  thing,  as  bad  as  the  French 
heroes  of  Greece  in  periwigs.  There  is  not  a  breath 
of  antiquity  in  Pope's  translation.  He  might  have 
changed  as  much  as  he  liked,  and  called  it  a  repro- 
duction ;  but  to  strip  it  of  its  spirit  of  antiquity,  was 
giving  us  a  corpse  instead  of  a  living  being.  It  is  a 
small  thing.  How  totally  different  is  the  manner  in 
which  the  German  Voss  has  handled  the  subject. 
He  shows  at  once  that  he  knows  and  feels  the  poem 
is  antique,  and  he  means  to  leave  it  so.  Voss's 


68  REMINISCENCES 

translation  might  certainly  be  improved  in  various 
parts,  but  he  has  made  Homer  a  German  work,  now 
read  by  every  one  :  he  has  done  a  great  thing.  You 
do  not  imagine  it,  yet  it  is  a  fact,  that  Voss's  trans- 
lation of  Homer  has  had  a  great  influence  upon  your 
own  education.  I  say  it,  well  considering  what  I 
say,  that  the  influence  of  the  labours  of  Voss  on  the 
whole  German  nation  will  be  so  great,  that  other 
nations  will  feel  and  acknowledge  it. 

[The  reader  will  be  reminded  by  this  remark,  of 
what  Mr.  Niebuhr  wrote  at  a  later  period  in  the 
preface  to  his  second  edition  of  the  History  of 
Rome  : — 

*  We  (the  Germans)  had  now,"  he  says,  on  page 
viii.  of  {he  English  translation,  a  literature  worthy 
of  our  nation  and  language;  we  had  Lessing  and 
Goethe:  and  this  literature  comprised,  what  none 
had  yet,  a  great  part  of  the  Greek  and  Roman, 
not  copied,  but,  as  it  were,  reproduced.  For  this 
Germany  is  indebted  to  Voss,  whom  our  grand- 
children's children  and  grandchildren  must  extol  as 
their  benefactor  ;  with  whom  a  new  age  for  the 
knowledge  of  antiquity  begins;  inasmuch  as  he  suc- 
ceeded in  eliciting  out  of  the  classical  writers,  what 
they  presuppose,  their  notions  of  the  earth,  for  in- 
stance, and  of  the  gods,  their  ways  of  life  and  their 
household  habits;  and  understood  and  interpreted 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


69 


Homer  and  Virgil  as  if  they  were  our  contempora- 
ries, and  only  separated  from  us  by  an  interval  of 
space.  His  example  wrought  upon  many  :  upon 
me,  ever  since  my  childhood,  it  has  been  enforced 
by  personal  encouragement  from  this  old  friend  of 
my  family."] 


Mr.  Niebuhr^s  Knowledge  of  Languages. 

[I  had  found  a  Russian  grammar  and  some  Russian 
books  in  his  library,  and  asked  him  whether  he  had 
ever  studied  that  language.    He  said  :] 

Oh  yes,  I  would  not  leave  the  whole  Slavonic* 

*  1  write  Slavonic^  thoug-h  the  learned  and  accomplished  au- 
thor of  the  *•  Historical  View  of  the  Slavic  language  in  its  vari- 
ous Dialects,"  (Andover,  Massachusetts,  1834,)  uses  the  shorter 
form  Slavic.  She  is  certainly  good  authority  on  this  point,  and 
Slavic  is  more  correct  than  Slavonic,  which  the  English  have 
formed  of  the  French  Esclavon  but  Slavic  has  a  sound  so  much 
resembling  that  of  slave,  that  I  thought  Slavonic  preferable  on 
this  account :  a"  reason  which  would  yield  perhaps  to  ""the 
weightier  one  of  correctness,  if  ever  I  should  treat  of  the  subject 
at  length.  Here,  where  the  word  is  mentioned  only  by  the 
way,  it  will  be  of  no  consequence  which  formation  has  been 
used. 


70 


REMINISCENCES 


stock  of  languages  untouched  ;  and  I  wished  to  un- 
derstand all  the  Ewojjean  languages  at  least.  Every 
one  may  learn  them  :  it  is  easy  enough  after  we 
once  know  three.  I  now  understand  all  the  lan- 
guages of  Europe  pretty  well,  not  excepting  my 
Low  German,  only  these  Slavonic  idioms  excepted  ; 
I  have  not  read  much  in  them  ;  yet  I  know  them. 
Have  you  ever  studied  Dutch  ? 
[Not  yet,  I  answered  ] 

Well,  he  continued)  do  not  omit  it ;  it  is  well  to 
understand  it  for  its  own  sake,  as  well  as  on  account 
of  a  belter  knowledge  of  German  and  English  ;^  and 
your  study  of  this  language  will  give  you  something 
to  laugh  at.  A  translation  of  Pindar  into  Dutch,  I 
think,  is  one  of  the  most  entertaining  things  one 
can  meet  with.  It  sounds  to  a  German  ear  exceed- 
ingly laughable.* 

*  Eng-lish  and  Americans  are  very  apt  to  connect  ideas  with 
the  word  Butch,  and  especially  Butch  language,  which  strong- 
ly  incline  to  the  ridiculous,  altogether  forg-etting'  that  that  part 
of  the  English  tong'ue  on  which  its  strength  and  noble  character 
chiefly  depend,  according  to  what  all  its  profoundest  students 
have  declared,  is  the  inheritance  of  a  common  stock  with  the 
Dutch — tlte  ancient  Low  German.  I  had  not  found  time  to 
study  Dutch,  nor  had  my  labours  led  me  to  Dutch  literature; 
and  being  a  native  of  a  province  in  which  High  German  is  spoken, 
and  not  possessing  therefore  the  natural  key  to  the  Dutch  Ian- 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


71 


[Do  you  speak  most  of  the  languages  you  know  ? 
I  asked.] 

Yes,  nearly  all,  he  replied  ;  except  the  Slavonic 
idioms,  as  I  told  you. 

[And  do  you  never  find  any  inco'nvenience  from 
a  mixture  of  languages  of  the  same  kind  ?] 

Not  often.  I  dare  say  it  would  be  some  time 
before  I  should  be  able  to  write  correctly  in  Spanish. 
I  should  probably  introduce    many  Italicisms.* 

gaage — Low  German,  I  was  utterly  unacquainted  with  Dutch. 
Books  written  in  this  lang-aag-e  had  now  and  then  fallen  into 
my  hands,  but  I  could  not  read  them.  Great,  therefore,  was  my 
surprise  when,  one  day,  after  I  had  learned  English  pretty 
thoroug-hly,  I  met  with  a  Dutch  book,  and  found  I  could  read 
it  with  ease.  I  do  not  mean  to  intimate  that  an  Eng-lishman 
who  does  not  know  German  would  understand  Dutch  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course  ;  but  my  case  shows,  in  a  striking  manner,  how 
much  nearer  English  is  related  to  Dutch  than  German. 

•  When  the  King  of  Prussia  visited  Rome  after  the  Congress 
of  Verona,  he  had  ordered  the  Baron  Alexander  de  Humboldt 
from  Paris,  to  accompany  him  through  Italy.  It  was  during 
this  journey  that  I  heard  him  say,  in  Mr.  Niebuhr's  house,  that 
he  had  found  considerable  difficulty  in  speaking  Italian,  though 
he  was  perfectly  master  of  it ;  the  Spanish,  in  which  he  had 
written  so  much,  and  which  he  had  spoken  for  many  years, 
always  mixing  itself  with  it.  Yet,  before  M.  De  Humboldt  had 
reached  Rome,  this  difficulty  must  have  greatly  diminished.  I 
remember  when  he  entered  the  saloon  of  the  Prussian  legation, 
and  I  saw  that  great  man  for  the  first  time,  not  knowing  at  the 
time  who  he  was  :  for  some  reason  or  other  he  thought  I  was  an 


72  REMINISCENCES 

Generally  speaking,  well  educated,  and  esjDecially 
literary  people,  do  not  mix  :  it  is  the  illiterate  who 
produce  the  lingos  by  a  mixture  of  the  different 
languages,  as  well  as  by  lowering  their  character. 
Look  at  the  servants  who  come  with  travellers  here 
to  Rome,  or  read  the  works  of  literary  people  and 
transactions  of  common  life,  written  in  periods  when 
two  different  tribes,  living  together,  have  not  yet 
fairly  intermingled.  I  am  told  the  Germans  in 
Pennsylvania  mix  English  and  German  in  a  barba- 
rous way. 

[Mr.  Niebuhr  having  mentioned  the  German 
spoken  by  the  descendants  of  German  emigrants  in 
Pennsylvania,  I  had  the  intention  of  offering  here 
some  remarks  on  this  peculiar  jargon,  interesting 
in  more  than  one  respect.  I  found,  however,  that 
it  was  impossible  for  me  to  compress  them  into  a 
smaller  space  than  eight  or  ten  pages,  which  seemed 
to  me  so  entirely  out  of  proportion,  that  I  felt  con- 
strained to  retain  my  observations  made  among  the 
German  Pennsylvanians,  and  the  various  instances  I 
have  collected  to  illustrate  the  subject,  for  some  - 

Italian,  and  addressed  me  accordingly  in  good  Italian  ;  T,  in  turn, 
thought  he  was  a  French  gentleman,  and  addressed  him  accord- 
ingly ;  and  I  was  not  a  little  surprised  when  at  length  Mr.  Nie- 
buhr entered  and  addi-essed  him  in  German. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


73 


future  occasion.  The  study  of  this  barbarous  dialect 
is  of  the  highest  interest  to  the  student  of  the  corrup- 
tion of  languages, — a  subject  of  paramount  impor- 
tance to  every  philologist ;  for  it  is  to  the  process  of 
corruption  that  the  study  of  the  formation  of  most 
of  our  languages  naturally  leads  us.  By  an  inquiry 
into  the  German  spoken  in  Pennsylvania,  we  sur- 
prise a  language  in  that  moment  of  transformation 
through  which  most  modern  European  idioms  have 
passed — a  state  of  rude  and  slovenly  mixture  and 
repulsive  degeneracy ;  for  languages  are  like 
nations  ;  rebellion  and  lawlessness  cease  to  be  such 
as  soon  as  a  new  state  of  settled  legitimacy  grows 
out  of  the  unsettled  state  of  things.  To  the  student 
of  the  English  language,  in  particular  this  degene- 
rated daughter  of  the  German  idiom  is  interesting. 
He  finds  a  repetition  of  almost  every  single  process 
by  which  his  own  language  was  originally  formed  ; 
though  these  processes  are,  in  the  case  of  the  Penn- 
sylvanian  German,  often  in  an  incipient  stage  only, 
and  will  never  go  farther,  since  it  is  impossible  that 
this  dialect  can  ever  elevate  itself  to  independence. 
It  will  be  swallowed  up  before  it  arrives  at  maturity, 
as  several  concoctions  of  languages  were  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  middle  ages.] 
7 


74 


REMINISCENCES 


Muse  of  power. 
Whoever  has  power  abuses  it. 

The  same. 

[On  another  occasion  he  said  :] 

Whoever  has  power  abuses  it  ;  every  page  of 
history  proves  the  fact: — individual,  body,  the 
people,  it  is  all  the  same  ;  power  is  abused  :  and  j'et 
some  one  or  some  body  must  have  it.  The  great 
problem  seems  to  he  to  vest  it  in  such  a  manner  that 
as  little  mischief  can  be  done  as  possible.  But  to 
effect  this,  something  very  different  is  necessary 
from  merely  clipping  the  wings  of  power.  Inju- 
dicious restraint  of  power  leads  to  as  many  evil  con- 
sequences as  unlimited  power. 


Importance  of  a  good  Handwriting. 

A  bad  handwriting  ought  never  to  be  forgiven  ;* 
it  is  a  shameful  indolence :  indeed,  sending  a  badly 

*  Mr.  Niebuhr  wrote  a  peculiarly  leg^ible  and  fair  hand;  an 
accomplishment  of  which  not  many  German  savam  can  boast. 


OF  M.  NIEBIJHR. 


75 


written  letter  to  a  fellow-creature  is  as  impudent  an 
act  as  I  know  of.  Can  there  be  anything  more  un- 
pleasant than  to  open  a  letter  which  at  once  shows 
that  it  will  require  long  deciphering  ?  Besides,  the 
effect  of  the  letter  is  gone  if  we  must  spell  it.  Strange, 
we  carefully  avoid  troubling  other  people  even  with 
trifles,  or  to  appear  before  them  in  dress  which 
shows  negligence  or  carelessness,  and  yet  nothing 
is  thought  of  giving  the  disagreeable  trouble  of 
reading  a  badly  written  letter.  In  England,  good- 
breeding  requires  writing  well  and  legibly  ;  with 
us  (the  Germans)  it  seems  as  if  the  contrary  princi- 
ple was  acknowledged.*  Although  many  people 
may  not  have  made  a  brilliant  career  by  their  fine 

*  Writing  seems  to  me  to  be  just  like  dressing  ;  we  ought  to 
dress  well  and  neat ;  but  as  we  may  dress  too  well,  so  may  a 
pedantically  fine  hand  show  that  the  writer  has  thought  more  of 
the  letters  than  the  sense.  It  ought  to  be  remembered,  how- 
ever, that  it  is  far  more  difficult  to  write  German  characters  well 
and  legibly  than  Roman  letters.  Hence  names  in  German  manu- 
scripts for'printers  are  generally  written  with  the  latter.  The 
English  write  best  of  all  nations,using  this  alphabet ;  the  Ame- 
ricans next.  The  French  write  in  general  badly,  especially 
ladies  ;  the  Italians  very  poorly  ;  and  Spaniards  hardly  legibly, 
to  the  great  confusion  of  their  foreign  commercial  correspon- 
dents. It  is  curious  to  observe  how  the  two  last-named  nations 
show  by  their  handwriting  that  they  have  remained  behind 
the  general  European  civilization.    They  continue  to  use  the 


76 


REMINISCENCES 


handwriting,  yet  I  know  that  not  a  few  have  spoiled 
theirs  by  a  bad  one.  The  most  important  petitions 
are  frequently  read  with  no  favourable  disposition, 
or  entirely  thrown  aside,  merely  because  they  are 
written  so  badly. 


Importance  of  Writing  at  once  correctly. 

Endeavour  never  to  strike  out  anything  of  what 
you  have  once  written  down.  I^unish  yourself  by 
allowing  once  or  twice  something  to  pass,  though 
you  see  you  might  give  it  better:  it  will  accustom 
you  to  be  more  careful  in  future;  and  you  will  not 

contracted  letters,  abbreviations,  and  ornaniental  lines  and 
floui'ishes,  which  were  common  with  all  Europeans  a  century 
ago.  The  art  of  writing  has  much  improved  during  the  latter 
centuries  ;  compare  MS.  letters  of  the  present  day  with  those 
we  have  of  the  time  of  the  Reformation.  Nor  does  the  pro- 
gress of  this  art  show  less  the  general  tendency  of  the  times, 
than  so  many  other  branches  of  human  activity,  domestic  comfort, 
8cc.  While  the  ancient  expensive  art  of  writing  most  beautifully 
and  tastefully  on  parchment  has  fallen  into  disuse,  the  common 
handwriting  of  every  man,  for  daily  practical  use,  has  vastly  im- 
proved :  the  one,  expensive  and  of  an  exclusive  character,  be- 
longed to  an  aristocratic  age ;  the  other  is  'characteristic  of  a 
time  of  popular  tendency. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  77 

only  save  much  time,  but  also  think  more  correctly 
and  distinctly.  I  hardly  ever  strike  out  or  correct 
my  writing,  even  in  my  despatches  to  the  king. 
Persons  who  have  never  tried  to  write  at  once  cor- 
rectly, do  not  know  how  easy  it  is,  after  all,  pro- 
vided your  thoughts  are  clear  and  well  arranged; 
and  they  ought  to  be  so  before  you  put  pen  to  paper. 

[The  reader  will  remember  the  striking  coinci- 
dence between  what  Mr.  Niebuhr  says  here,  and 
what  we  read  of  Gibbon,  in  his  Memoirs  of  my 
Life  and  Writings,"  that  he  would  often  walk  up 
and  down  in  his  room  to  round  off  a  sentence  before 
he  attempted  to  write  it  down.  Nor  can  I  refrain 
from  copying  the  following  passage  of  the  same 
work.  Mr.  Gibbon  says:  "  I  will  add  two  facts, 
which  have  seldom  occurred  in  the  composition  of 
six,  or  at  least  of  five  quartos.  My  first  rough 
manuscript,  without  any  intermediate  copy,  has  been 
sent  to  the  press.  2.  Not  a  sheet  has  been  seen  by 
any  human  eyes  excepting  those  of  the  author  and 
the  printer;  the  faults  and  merits  are  exclusively  my 
own.'' 

7* 


78 


REMINISCENCES 


Napoleon^s  Handwriting, 

The  more  Napoleon's  power  increased,  the  worse 
his  handwriting  became,  until  at  last  it  was  some- 
times impossible  even  for  his  ministers  to  decipher 
it.  Many  a  time  they  were  greatly  embarrassed, 
one  went  to  the  other,  and  none  could  make  out  his 
scribbling,  which  of  course  was  always  on  the  most 
important  subjects  only,  and  generally  great  haste 
was  required  in  executing  his  orders. 


Parchment, 

[We  had  spoken  of  different  kinds  of  paper:] 
If  I  were  rich,  I  would  write  on  nothing  but  parch- 
ment ;  I  like  it  exceedingly. 


Michelangelo. — First  King  of  Italy. 

[We  had  conversed  on  Italy;  her  great  destiny  of 
being  united  under  one  government ;  the  ardent 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  79 

wish  of  every  great  Italian,  from  the  time  when 
Dante  wrote  his  O  Italia,  di  dolor  ostello,  to  the 
latest  times;  of  Machiavelli  and  his  proposed  means 
of  uniting  Italy ;  of  the  great  and  various  powers 
which  would  be  requisite  in  a  restorer  of  Italian  na- 
tionality;— and  I  had  said  that,  strange  as  it  might 
sound,  I  never  could  read  the  writings  of  Michel- 
angelo, or  behold  his  works,  without  thinking  that 
he  was  of  a  mould  requisite  for  a  man  to  become  the 
first  king  of  Italy.] 

I  am  truly  glad,  he  replied,  you  say  so:  it  is 
my  opinion  too.  He  was  a  great  man  and  a  sterling 
man.  Yes,  Michelangelo  would  have  been  the  man 
under  certain  circumstances;  but  these,  of  course,  it 
is  not  in  the  power  of  mortal  man  to  create. 


Machiavelli. 

Machiavelli,  though  he  makes  considerable  mis- 
takes in  his  views  of  early  Roman  history,  was  a 
great  man,  a  wise  man.  His  intellect  was  of  the 
first  class,  and  he  knew  what  he  was  about :  which 
by  the  way,  only  powerful  minds  know,  yet  not  all 
powerful  minds. 


80 


REMINISCENCES 


Mr.  Niebuhr^s  Parental  Wish. 

I  wish  my  son  to  become  what  I  could  not :  I 
will  spare  no  exertion  to  give  him  all  the  advantages 
which  I  had  not. 


Mr.  Spalding. — Niebuhr^s  Roman  History. 

Perhaps  I  should  never  have  written  my  Roman 
History,  had  not  men  like  Savigny  and  Spalding 
encouraged  me  in  the  most  friendly  way.  Spalding 
was  one  of  my  dearest  friends.  He  read  my  manu- 
script ;  and  with  what  pleasure  have  I  received  it 
back,  when  he  approved,  encouraged,  and  suggested 
improvements.  I  count  my  acquaintance  with  him 
among  the  happiest  events  in  my  life. 

[George  Luis  Spalding  was  professor  in  one  of  the 
g5^mnasia  of  Berlin.  He  was  a  distinguished  philo- 
loger,  and  died  in  1811.  His  father,  John  Joachim 
Spalding,  was  one  of  the  most  meritorious  and  cele- 
brated German  divines.  The  reader  will  find  a'n- 
other  remark  on  Mr.  Spalding  the  younger,  farther 
below.] 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


81 


Mr.  Nicbuhr^s  Roman  History. 

The  evil  time  of  Prussia's  humiliation  has  some 
share  in  the  production  of  my  History.  We  could 
do  little  more  than  ardently  hope  for  better  days, 
^and  prepare  for  them.  What  was  to  be  done  in  the 
meanwhile?  One  must  do  something.  1  went  back 
to  a  nation,  great,  but  long  passed  by,  to  strengthen 
my  mind  and  that  of  my  hearers.  We  felt  like 
Tacitus. 


Mvice  to  Young  People. 

[He  had  observed  that  my  mind  had  not  been 
cheerful  for  some  time  past,  and  he  said  :] 

I  believe  I  understand  your  pensiveness.  My 
dear  friend,  pray  to  God  :  "  I  will  keep  thy  com- 
mands, give  me  tranquillity  in  return."  A  kind 
Providence  will  not  refuse  so  simple  a  prayer.  It  is 
not  the  destiny  of  men  of  your  cast  of  mind  to  go 
quietly  on  the  path  of  faith  from  childhood  to  old 
age.  You  must  struggle,  but  be  not  afraid.  Many 
before  you  have  had  to  pass  through  the  same  strug- 
gle.   Keep  your  mind  active  and  your  soul  pure, 


82  REMINISCENCES 

and  all  will  come  right.  Whatever  aspect  the 
world  around  you  may  have,  keep  steadily  to  the 
love  of  truth.  You  could  not  help  becoming  old 
before  your  age  ;  but  there  are  at  present  many,  it 
seems  to  me,  who  wantonly  lose  their  youth,  and 
trouble  their  minds  with  cares  and  griefs  of  which 
they  know  nothing  but  the  name.  The  vigour  of 
manhood  depends  much  upon  a  healthy  and  natural, 
not  premature  state  of  mind  in  youth. 


Signs  of  the  rapid  Flight  of  Time. 

[Mr.  Niebuhr  had  asked  me  whether  I  had  read 
a  certain  book,  I  forget  what ;  and  on  my  answer  in 
the  negative,  said  :] 

Nothing,  indeed,  shows  me  so  strikingly  that  I 
belong  to  a  generation  which  is  fast  to  be  supplanted 
by  a  succeeding  one,  as  the  fact  that  books,  which 
were  the  rage  when  1  was  young,  are  not  known  by 
men  of  your  age.  By  the  opinion  in  which  some 
works,  published  when  I  was  young,  are  held  by 
your  generation,  I  am  already  enabled  to  compare 
my  criticism  of  the  literature  of  my  younger  days 
with  the  opinion  of  posterity. 

[The  faster  books  are  published,  the  sooner  this 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


83 


forerunner  of  criticism  takes  place.  In  various  re- 
spects it  seemed  to  me  necessary  to  ^<  keep  up''  with 
the  literature  of  the  day  ;  but  books  of  the  lighter 
kind  have  become  so  numerous  that  it  is  utterly  im- 
possible to  read  everything  besides  one's  serious 
and  official  studies.  I  have  therefore  contrived  the 
following  means.  I  allow  always  half  a  year  to  pass 
after  the  publication  of  the  work,  if  the  name  of  its 
author  is  not  a  sufficient  guarantee  to  make  me  at 
once  read  it.  If  the  book  is  still  spoken  of  after  the 
lapse  of  this  period,  and  if  I  am  still  asked,  "  Have 
you  read  such  or  such  a  book  ?"  I  read  it  :  thus  I 
make  time  criticise  for  me ;  and  the  reader  has  no 
idea  how  much  trouble  I  am  spared.  I  gain  by  not 
losing  time;  and  I  gain  by  not  being  obliged  to 
glance  at  a  large  mass  of  books  which  come  and  go 
like  moths  and  flies.] 


Mr.  Niebuhr^s  Memory, 

When  1  had  just  returned  from  Greece,  and  de- 
scribed certain  spots  to  him,  he  would  ask  for  by- 
ways, remains  of  wells,  paths  over  high  ridges,  or 
other  minute  details,  as  if  he  had  been  there.  As 
many  of  the  objects  for  which  he  asked  exist  still, 


84  REMINISCENCES 

and  I  had  seen  them,  I  was  amazed  at  his  accurate 
knowledge.] 

Oh,  said  he,  I  never  forget  anything  I  once  hav& 
seen,  read  or  heard.* 


France  a  Republic. 

Only  those  who  do  not  know  anything  of  history, 
or  have  never  observed  and  studied  republics  now 
in  existence,  can  have  for  a  moment  the  idea  that 
France  can  become  a  republic.  There  is  not  one  of 
the  many  necessary  materials  for  building  a  republic 
in  France.  It  is  utterly  impossible;  yet  there  are  some 
crazy  brains  who  wish  for  a  French  republic  in  good 
faith  ;  many  of  those  who  pretend  to  believe  in  it 
know  much  better. 


Parties  in  France. 

I  think  matters  stnnd  very  badly  in  France  ;  nei- 
ther the  one  nor  the  other  party'allows  of  any  cheerful 

*  Instances  of  the  extraordinary  memory  of  Mr.  Niebuhr  have 
been  given  in  the  preface.  It  would  be  easy  for  me  to  add  a 
number  here. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


85 


prospect.  The  Royalists  sometimes  act  as  if  they 
were  mad;  and  in  the  Opposition  are  distinguished 
men,  who  have  spent  their  whole  life  in  contradic- 
tion to  the  principles  they  pretend  to  avow.  Their 
boldness,  at  least,  must  be  admired.  Men  who  have 
driven  the  people  at  home  and  in  foreign  countries 
to  despair,  pretend  to  be  Liberals  now  !  But  so  lit- 
tle are  things  remembered  !  I  dare  say  few  people 
recollect  how  infamously  some,  who  now  figure  as 
the  foremost  in  the  Liberal  ranks,  behaved  among  us 
(Germans).  You  know  very  well  that  there  was  no 
greater  leech,  and  more  oppressive  instrument  of  ty- 

rann}''  among  the  French,  than  ,  when  Intend- 

ant  de  la  Mark  de  Brandenbourg,  and  now  he  is 
a  great  and  noisy  Liberal.  He  has  excused  himself 
by  the  old  adage,  that  it  was  not  he,  but  his  orders, 
that  were  oppressive  : — it  is  not  true.  Why  have 
other  servants  of  Napoleon,  equally  strict  in  exe- 
cuting the  ruinous  orders  of  their  regardless  master, 
acted  differently  ?  Surely,  they  could  bring  no  happy 
times  to  our  poor  people  J^either  ;  but  they  showed, 
at  least,  that  fhey  had  a  heart ;  and  so  essentially 
good-natured  is  the  German,  that  this  was  always 
acknowledged  with  gratitude.  He,  however,  used 
to  say  to  those  who  made  the  most  earnest  represen- 
tations, "  In  half  a  century  the  countr)^  will  have 

recovered,  and  no  trace  of  suffering  be  left."   , 

8 


86  REMINISCENCES 

in  Holland,  used  to  say,  "  Que  fait  cela  ct  PEmpe- 
reurP^  The  people  were  galled  to  their  heart's  core. 
The  French  have  shown  a  most  decided  trait  during 
the  time  of  their  conquests,  namely — avarice.  I 
speak  of  all,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest ;  their 
greediness  for  money  was  disgusting.  You  were 
too  young  at  that  time  to  know  many  details,  but  I 
know  them.  The  many  contrivances  they  would 
resort  to,  in  order  to  extort  money,  would  appear 
now  almost  incredible.  Other  nations  have  not 
shown  this  trait  of  meanness  during  their  conquests. 
They  have  always  levied  contributions;  and  the 
English  in  India  were  certainly  not  over-delicate, 
but  it  was  not  done  in  so  mean  a  way,  and  by  every 
one  in  his  sphere.  How  mutih  we  have  often  laugh- 
ed, bitter  as  the  times  were,  when  someof  the  high- 
sounding  proclamations  and  bulletins  of  Napoleon 
were  issued,  and  all  the  French  were  made  to  appear 
in  them  the  purest  knights,  full  of  honour  and  devo- 
tion to  a  great  cause,  and  we  compared  these  trum- 
pet-sounds to  reality.  They  were  essentially  mean, 
and  of  course  without  the  slightest  shame.  There 
were,  as  you  know,  exceptions.  How  differently 
have  our  generals  acted  in  France  ! 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


87 


Opinion  of  Pius  VII.  of  Prince  Hohenlohe. 

The  Pope  (Pius  VII.)  one  day  speaking  to  me  of 
Prince  Hohenlohe,  said,  Questo  far  dei  miracoli? 
followed  by  a  very  signficant  shake  of  his  head,  ex- 
pressive of  strong  doubt.* 


The  Pope's  interest  in  the  labours  of  Mr.  Nie- 
buhr. — His  blessiiig. 

The  Pope  (Pius  VII.)  seems  to  take  great  plea- 
sure in  talking  to  me  of  my  investigations  in  the 
Vatican,  and  never  does  it  without  remembering 
the  time  when  he  was  professor  of  Greek.  Perhaps 
he  feels  more  at  ease  with  me  than  with  the  Catholic 

*  Alexander  Leopold,  Prince  Hohenlohe,  now  canon  at 
Grosswardeln,  in  Hungary,  has  acquired  great  reputation  by 
his  miracles.  Those  which  he  effected  at  a  distance  by  appoint- 
ing a  precise  time  when  the  afflicted  person  and  he  pray  at  the 
minute,  the  necessary  deduction  on  account  of  different  degrees 
of  longitude  always  being  made,  have  attracted  most  attention. 
Prince  Hohenlohe  had  been  in  Rome,  where  his  demeanour 
seems  to  have  betrayed  to  Pius  VH.  so  little  of  true  apostolic 
humbleness,  that  he  was  far  from  believing  in  the  miracles  when 
they  were  reporte4  in  Rome. 


88  REMINISCENCES 

ambassadors.  Whenever  he  can,  he  stops  me  after 
an  audience  to  talk  to  him  a  little.  He  seems  to  me 
an  exceedingly  good  and  pious  man:  I  feel  real  re- 
verence for  him.  I  once  presented  my  Marcus  to 
him  ;  and  in  giving  him  his  blessing,  he  said  with  a 
most  venerable  smile,  "  The  blessing  of  an  old  man 
won't  do  him  any  harm."* 

*  Bourienne,  in  his  Life  cf  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  relates  a  si- 
milar anecdote  of  Pius  VIT.  w  hen  he  visited  the  imperial  print- 
ing-press in  Paris,  a  few  days  before  the  coronation  of  Napoleon. 
It  is  very  possible  that  the  benevolent  Plus  said  these  kindly 
words  by  way  of  quotation,  since  it  is  related  that  they  were  first 
used  by  a  Pope  who  saw  an  Englishman  exposed  to  the  fury  of 
the  populace,  as  he  would  not  kneel  down  when  the  pontiff 
Passe4i  "  Kneel  down,  my  son,",  were  the  words  with  which 
the  Pope  is  said  to  have  addressed  the  Englishman,  "  an  old 
man's  blessing  won't  harm  thee  anyhow."  The  same  anecdote 
is  reported  of  Sir  Horace  Walpole  and  Pope  Benedict  XVT. 
(Lambertini.)  The  former  paid  his  visit  to  the  head  of  the  Ca- 
tholic church  when  his  father  was  premier  of  England:  he  hesi- 
tated to  kneel  down,  as  it  might  have  given  rise  to  rumours  not 
agi'eeable  to  his  father,  the  great  Whig  minister  ;  and  the  Pope 
observing  his  hesitation,  is  said  to  have  found  this  admirable  way 
of  avoiding  the  dif?iculty,  by  offering  the  blessing  as  an  old  man 
only,  and  not  in  his  ecclesiastic  capacity.  The  custom  may 
have  been  diflerent  from  what  it  is  now:  at  present,  no  Protest- 
ant is  expected  to  kneel  before  the  Pope.  Mr.  Niebuhr,  the 
minister  of  a  Protestant  monarch,  bent  his  knee  but  slightly 
when  he  paid  his  respects  to  the  Pope  in  official  audiences — a 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


89 


Citron  sent  by  the  Pope. 

Look  here,  my  young  friend,  Mr.  Niebuhr  said 
one  day,  the  Pope  has  sent  me  a  basket  full  of 
citrons  produced  in  his  garden.  I  shall  have  them 
boiled  in  sugar  and  send  them  to  my  Catholic  friends 
in  Berlin.  How  they  will  enjoy  it!  what  a  feast  it 
will  be  for  the  little  ones  of  ! 


Mr.  Niebuhr^s  Father. — Franklin. 

[I  had  read  Mr.  Niebuhr's  Life  of  his  Father,* 
and  said:  "  Your  father  seems  to  me  somewhat  like 

way  of  approaching  monarchs  which  was  formerly  common,  and 
is  still  in  use  in  several  countries.  At  present,  when  a  number 
of  persons,  Catholics  and  Protestants  are  presented  to  the  Pope, 
— for  instance,  the  officers  of  an  American  man-of-war, — the 
Catholics  are  requested  to  write  down  their  names  previous 
to  the  audience.  They  are  received  first,  and  admitted  to  the 
usual  ceremony  of  kissing  the  cross  on  the  Pope's  slipper,  and 
receiving  his  blessing.  Protestants  approach  as  they  would  to 
any  other  sovereign. 

•  Since  translated  into  English,  and  published  in  one  of  the 
numbers  of  the  Library  of  Useful  Knowledge,  issued  under  the 
direction  of  the  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge. 
8* 


90  REMINISCENCES 

Franklin alluding  merely  to  their  simplicity  and 
inexhaustible  activity  and  desire  for  accurate  know- 
ledge.] 

Indeed?  said  he,  quite  astonished  ;  there  was  no 
cunning  in  my  father.  On  the  contrary,  my  father 
was  an  extremely  simple-hearted  man.  I  cannot  see 
the  similarity.  My  father  had  no  worldly  shrewd- 
ness. 

[I  explained  myself,  and  he  seemed  to  agree  with 
me.] 


Henry  IV,  of  France. 

[1  had  asked  him  whether  he  did  not  believe  that 
Henry  IV.  might  have  done  wonders  for  France  and 
all  Europe,  and  saved  his  native  country  from  revo- 
lution, had  he  supported  the  people  in  their  desire 
of  establishing  Protestantism — a  question  arising 
from  a  want  of  sufficient  knowledge  of  that  period  :] 

Do  you  believe  so?  he  said:  I  doubt  it,  very  much 
indeed  ;  but  I  am  not  sufficiently  master  of  the 
French  history  of  that  time. 

[He  said  this  with  ineffable  simplicity  and  modes- 
ty, without  the  least  apparent  intention  of  making 
me  reflect  upon  the  scantiness  of  my  knowledge.] 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


01 


Authority  of  Law  among  the  Romans. 

The  meaning  which  the  word  law  had  among  the 
Romans,  and  the  obedience  paid  to  this  abstract 
authority,  are  historical  traits  of  that  great  nation. 
They  are  quite  peculiar  to  them  in  antiquity;  and  in 
modern  times  comparable  only  to  the  civil  spirit  of 
the  English  and  their  children  in  America. 


Athens. — Sparta. 


The  ancient  philosophers  praised  the  aristocratic 
constitutions  of  Sparta  ;  but  really  I  prefer  ten  times 
over  all  the  Athenian  licentiousness,  bad  as  it  really 
was,  to  the  order  of  Lacedaemon.  What  have  they 
done  or  produced,  except  some  noble  instances  of 
self-devotion  ?  They  are  noble,  to  be  sure  ;  but  if  a 
country  produces  nothing  but  this  readiness  in  sa- 
crificing one's  self,  it  seems  to  be  something  very 
negative.  It  is  easy  in  this  life  to  sacrifice  every- 
thing to  a  single  object,  as  all  the  human  faculties  in 
all  their  variety  and  activity  nearly,  were  sacrificed 
to  the  single  object  of  making  Sparta  a  warlike  state: 
but  the  difiiculty  is  to  find  out  systems  in  which  all 


92 


REMINISCENCES 


the  different  parts  have  their  proper  sphere  assigned 
them.  And  yet,  (he  added  after  a  pause,)  Sparta 
forms  after  all  a  beautiful  part  of  the  whole  picture 
of  favoured  Greece. 


Hypocritical  Critics. 

[We  had  conversed  on  some  silly  remarks  made 
in  a  public  paper  on  his  Roman  History,  charging 
him  with  scepticism,  and  made  in  a  tone  which  be- 
trayed but  too  openly  that  the  writer  wished  to  in- 
fuse into  his  criticism  the  accusation  of  infidelity, 
though  he  had  not  the  boldness  to  do  so.] 

There  was  a  time,  Mr.  Niebuhr  said,  when  a  man 
might  well  have  feared  for  his  liberty,  and  perhaps 
for  his  life  too,  had  he  dared  to  assert  what  I  have 
stated.  The  philologists  would  have  cried  treason, 
and  the  theologians  would  have  considered  it  an  at- 
tack upon  themselves.  Public  opinion  would  have 
stoned  him.  And  even  now  there  area  great  many 
people  who  dare  not  express  what  they  think  upon 
this  point,  because  they  feel  that  they  would  render 
themselves  ridiculous. 

[I  said,  that  I  actually  had  seen  an  article  against 
WolPs  substituting  several  Homeric  poets  for  one 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  93 

Homer,  winding  up  with  a  declaration  that,  if  this 
theory  were  allowed  to  pass,  no  safety  would  any 
longer  exist  for  the  Mosaic  writings,  and  we  should 
soon  see  a  number  of  Mosaic  writers  substituted  for 
the  one  deliverer  of  the  Hebrews.  It  was  an  Eng- 
lish article  whicli  had  resorted  to  this  kind  of  reason- 
ing backwards,  so  common  among  the  enemies  of 
calm  and  manly  search  for  truth.  I  added:  ''It  is 
very  true,  I  never  shall  forget  my  feelings  when  the 
results  of  Wolf's  inquiries  were  first  explained  to  us 
in  school.  It  was  the  feeling  of  real  grief.  1  had 
lost  a  beau-ideal :  the  blind,  inspired,  venerated 
rhapsodist  was  gone."] 

Well,  said  Mr.  Niebuhr,  and  you  know  that  he 
was  very  furiously  attacked  by  some  philologists  as 
a  barbarian,  destroying  one  of  the  finest  images  we 
had  of  antiquity.  I  understand  what  you  felt  per- 
fectly well.  I  felt  the  same ;  but  truth  remains 
truth,  and  certainly  you  would  not  wish  me  to  with- 
hold results  at  which  I  believe  I  have  properly  ar- 
rived. It  appeared  to  many  much  more  delightful 
to  imagine  a  separate  deity  guarding  every  tree, 
every  flower  to  be  sacred  to  another  god,  than  to 
believe  in  one  God  ruling  over  all  and  everything: 
should  they  have  rejected  him  because  this  belief 
destroyed  the  dreams  of  their  childhood  ?  Nothing 
in  this  world  is  easier  than  to  enlist  a  common  and 


94  REMINISCENCES 

j)opular  prejudice  against  a  man.  Be  always  ex- 
tremely careful  whenever  you  hear  a  universal  cry 
against  a  man  for  having  stated  something  in  re- 
ligious or  scientific  matters.  As  for  the  fear  of  cri- 
ticism, it  only  shows  weakness.  I  never  yet  have 
found  a  man  who  feels  perfectly  secure  in  his  belief, 
that  shuns  inquiry  into  the  Bible.  At  any  rate,  such 
attacks  as  those  against  Wolf  or  myself,  come  with 
very  bad  grace  from  Protestants. 

[Truth,  I  replied,  seems  to  be  considered  by  many 
people  like  a  thing — something  without  them — an 
apple  they  may  eat  or  not;  but  not  as  the  one  great 
object  of  all  life  and  existence — the  absorbing  duty 
of  man, — that,  in  searching  which,  we  alone  ap- 

Very  often,  he  rejoined,  speaks  egotism,  which 
does  not  wish  to  be  disturbed  ;  or  littleness  of  mind, 
which  has  not  the  courage  to  acknowledge  a  long- 
cherished  error  ;  or  interest,  when  endeavours  are 
made  to  make  us  believe  that  a  holy  zeal  alone 
prompts  the  persecutor. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


95 


The  Romans  essentially  Farmers.  ' 

It  is  a  very  great  mistake  to  consider  the  Romans 
as  exclusively  a  warlike  people.  They  were  essen- 
tially farmers;  they  loved  farming,  and  their  great- 
est men  paid  much  attention  to  it.  This  circum- 
stance must  always  be  remembered  in  studying  Ro- 
man histor}^:  it  alone  explains  a  variety  of  pheno- 
mena in  their  political  developement.  My  know- 
ledge of  country  life  and  farming,  as  well  as  my  ac- 
quaintance with  the  history  of  the  Ditmarsians,  have 
greatly  assisted  me  in  my  historical  inquiries.  Those 
Ditmarsians  were  a  very  peculiar  race — as  gallant 
lovers  of  liberty  as  ever  existed. 


The  same. 

[When  I  travelled  with  him  through  the  Cam- 
pagna  Felice  and  in  upper  Italy,  he  often  exclaim- 
ed:] 

There,  see  what  excellent  farmers  these  Italians 
are  ;  how  they  cultivate  their  fields  vv^ith  the  rare  of 
gardeners:  It  was  always  so:  Romans  loved  farm- 
ing. 


96 


REMINISCENCES 


Waste  of  Time. 

People  had  formerly  much  more  time  than  we 
have  :  only  consider  all  the  time  eaten  up  by  m.orn- 
ing  calls  and  evening  parties.  I  speak  of  the  scho- 
lars by  profession.  Otherwise  they  could  not  have 
written  so  many  folios  and  quartos. 


Metaphysics. 

I  take  peculiar  care  that  metaphysics  do  not  in- 
fuse themselves  into  my  study  of  histor3^  It  ought 
to  be  possible  that  two  scholars,  adhering  to  two  to- 
tally different  philosophical  systems,  should  arrive 
at  the  same  results  as  to  the  historical  growth  and 
unfolding  of  a  nation. 


The  same. 

I  have  given  up  reading  metaphysical  books. 


OF  M,  NIEBUHR. 


97 


Jacobu 

Jacobi  was  an  uncommonly  pure  man.  He  al- 
ways appeared  to  me  like  a  bemg  from  a  better 
sphere,  tarrying  only  for  a  short  time  among  us. 
It  is  well  that  such  beings  appear  here  from  time  to 
time ;  they  encourage  poor  mortals.* 


Mr.  Niebuhr^s  intercourse  with  other  scholars. 

In  that  bitter  time  of  oppression  by  the  French, 
we  had  a  philologic  circle  in  Berlin  :  Schleierma- 
cher,  Buttmann,  Boeckh,  were  members.  We  im- 
proved much  by  each  other ;  and  how  delightful 

*  Frederick  Henry  Jacobi  was  a  distinguished  German  philo- 
sopher. The  Encyclop3edia  Americana  says  of  him : — "  Jaco- 
bi's  works  are  rich  in  whatever  can  attract  elevated  souls,  yet 
the  opinions  respecting  him  are  very  different.  He  has  been 
called  the  German  Plato,  on  account  of  the  religious  glow  in  his 
metaphysical  writings  ;  but,  whatever  opinions  may  be  enter- 
tained respecting  his  philosophy,  all  admit  that  he  was  a  most 
exemplary  man,  truly  revered  by  all  who  had  the  good  fortune 
to  be  acquainted  with  him.  His  philosophy,  among  other  traits, 
is  characterized  by  an  aversion  to  systems,  all  of  which,  he 
maintains,  when  consistently  carried  out,  lead  to  fanaticism." 

9 


98 


REMINISCENCES 


were  those  evenings  !  We  informed,  encouraged, 
rectified,  enlivened  each  other. 

[As  to  Schleiermacher  and  Buttmann  I  am  sure 
1  am  correct ;  and  I  think  I  made  no  mistake,  at  the 
time  I  wrote  down  this  aphorism,  when  I  placed  the 
name  of  that  distinguished  philologer,  Mr.  Boeckh, 
with  the  two  others.  Whether  Mr.  Niebuhr  men- 
tioned also  Spalding,  I  do  not  recollect. — I  may  be 
permitted  to  copy  the  end  of  the  preface  of  Mr.  Nie- 
buhr's  History. 

Therefore  do  I  bless  the  beloved  memory  of  my 
departed  Spalding;  therefore,  too,  allow  me  openly 
to  express  my  thanks  to  you,  Savigny,  Buttmann, 
and  Heindorf,  without  whom,  and  without  our  de- 
ceased friend,  I  should  certainly  never  have  had  the 
courage  to  undertake  this  work:  without  whose  af- 
fectionate sympathy  and  enlivening  presence  it 
would  hardly  have  been  accomplished." 

Schleiermacher  writes,  in  the  preface  to  the  first 
edition  of  his  masterly  translation  of  Plato,  dated 
April  1804,  *^  I  am  obliged  for  essential  assistance 
^in  the  translation  to  my  friends  C.  L.  Spalding  and 
L.  F.  Heindorf,  in  respect  to  finding  out  that  which 
is  correct,  as  weW  as  to  preventing  mistakes."] 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


99 


The  Vatican. 

There  are  immense  treasures  in  the  Vatican  ;  but 
it  is  impossible  to  make  proper  use  of  them.  I  am 
now  favoured  by  Majo,  at  least  as  much  as  any  one  ; 
but  it  is  not  to  be  compared  to  other  libraries. 
There  is  an  ill-placed  jealousy  all  the  time  fretting 
the  student,  and  very  unbecoming  so  noble  an  insti- 
tution. Besides,  the  time  allow^ed  to  v/ork  there  is 
much  too  short. 


Caliphs. 

It  was  a  grand  idea,  indeed,  on  which  the  ancient 
Arabian  law  was  founded,  that  no  caliph  should  have 
the  right  to  spend  more  than  he  could  earn  by  the 
labour  of  his  hands.  Besides  this,  the  fifth  part  of 
the  booty  belonged  to  him  :  but  in  those  times  of 
Arabian  greatness,  a  caliph  would  have  been  con- 
sidered very  mean  who  did  not  again  distribute 
his  share.  At  present,  they  generally  sell  their 
hand\^work  at  enormous  prices  :  it  often  ruins  a 
man  to  be  singled  out  by  a  dey  for  the  peculiar  grace 
of  being  allowed  to  buy  the  work  of  the  ruler. 


100 


REMINISCENCES 


Sclavonic. 

I  think  the  old  Sclavonic  language,  as  spoken  in 
Servia,  is  the  most  ])erfect  of  the  living  European 
languages  :  it  has  quite  the  honesty  and  power  of 
the  German  language,  and  a  philosophical  grammar. 
The  Russians  used  to  laugh  at  me  when  they  found 
me  studying  the  Sclavonic  languages  ;  so  little  are 
they  yet  a  nation  as  not  to  love  their  vernacular 
tongue. 


The  idea  of  Impurity  attached  to  Woman. 

[I  had  read  in  the  church  of  Santa  Praxede,  in 
Rome,  a  prohibition  against  one  of  the  chapels,  in 
which  there, are  preserved  two  saints,  and  a  piece  of 
the  column  to  which  Christ  was  tied  when  flagel- 
lated, to  this  effect — E  defeso  a  tutte  le  donne  di 
entrarein  quest  a  santissima  capella  sotto  pena  di 
scomonanza :  and  when  I  asked  the  sexton  for  the 
reason,  he  said,  Because  it  is  a  very  holy  chapel.^' 
I  told  this  to  Mr.  Niebuhr,  and  he  said,  shrugging 
his  shoulders:] 

That  has  passed  down  from  paganism  with  many 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  101 

similar  notions.  Women,  you  know,  were  prohibit- 
ed from  entering  many  temples  in  antiquity  ;  and 
to  this  day,  in  Asia,  is  the  idea  of  impurity  attached, 
in  a  great  degree,  to  woman.  The  placing  of  wax 
images  of  ears,  eyes,  and  limbs,  on  the  altar  of  a 
saint,  is  quite  an  antique  custom.  Bishops  have 
sometimes  felt  obliged  to  prohibit  this  peculiar  kind 
of  devotion,  when  things  were  demanded  from  the 
patron  saints,  or  the  Virgin,  which  ill  accorded  with 
religious  purity. 


Palladiums. 

I  have  to  send  a  Palladium  to  Prussia  ;  it  costs  at 
present  two  hundred  scudi  ;  in  the  middle  ages  it 
cost  about  fifteen  hundred.  It  may  be  taken  as  an 
index  of  the  value  the  people  put  upon  papal  autho- 
rity ;  for  money,  as  you  well  know,  has  greatly 
sunk  in  value. 


Battle  at  Weissenberg. 

Had  the  battle  of  Weissenberg  not  been  lost,  Ve- 
nice would  have  become  Protestant  :  she  was  on  the 

9  ^ 


102 


REMINISCENCES 


point  of  becoming  so.  The  consequences  which 
this  fact  would  have  produced  are  incalculable. 


Fra  Paolo. 

Fra  Paolo  is  one  of  the  finest  and  greatest  charac- 
ters that  ever  lived. 


Influence  of  Religion  in  Jincient  and  Modern 
Rome, 

[We  walked  together,  and  read  the  following 
words  written  on  a  church:  "  Indulgentia plenaria 
quotidiana  vivis  defunctisquef^  and  I  observed 
en  passant,  "  If  Scipio  had  seen  this  !"] 

Yes,  replied  Mr.  Niebuhr ;  and  yet  the  Romans 
were  always  a  people  paying  great  respect  to  re- 
ligious authority.  There  is  a  more  natural  con- 
nexion between  what  we  have  just  read  and  the 
times  to  which  you  allude,  than  you  probably  are 
aware  of.  The  pontifex  was  always  a  most  important 
person;  and  the  very  expression  of  sanctioning 
laws,  that  is,  making  them  holy,  or  stamping  them 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  103 

with  sacred  authority,  shows  the  political  import- 
ance of  religion  in  ancient  Rome. 

[In  fact,  the  very  word  religion  indicates  the 
powerful,  binding  influence  it  had  with  the  Ro- 
mans.] 


Loss  of  the  Mexican  Literature. 

What  an  immense  treasure  for  the  history  of  civil- 
ization has  been  lost  for  ever  by  the  order  of  the 
first  bishop  in  Mexico,  to  burn  the  whole  native 
literature!  Perhaps  a  greater  one  than  by  Omar's 
conflagration.     No  greater  loss  has  ever  happened. 


Punishment  of  Death  for  not  being  victorious. 

Admiral  Byng  was  shot  for  having  avoided  the 
enemy,  instead  of  having  attacked  them.  He  was 
executed  for  cowardice.  However,  he  was  perhaps 
sacrificed  by  the  ministry.  Venice  punished  the 
general  who  had  not  been  victorious.  The  ancients, 
it  is  well  known,  were  often  not  less  exacting;  the 
behaviour  of  the  Athenians  is  well  known;  and 


104  REMINISCENCES 

perhaps  France  would  not  have  avoided  an  invasion 
in  the  time  of  the  Republic,  had  not  the  only  ques- 
tion with  the  generals  been — either  victory  or  your 
head  flies  off. 


Spiritual  Exeixises. 

Esercizj  spiriiuali  are  spiritual  exercises  dictated 
by  the  Offizio  for  minor  offences,  mostly  performed 
in  a  convent,  where  people  remain  sometimes  a 
week  or  a  fortnight.  At  times  they  are  very  pro- 
per ;  at  others  not.  All  professors  of  the  Propagan- 
da and  Sapienza,  all  priests,  physicians,  superinten- 
dents of  archives,  and  people  of  the  kind,  who  had 
taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  French,  were 
obliged  to  expiate  their  oflfence  by  such  penances. 
Some  professors  had  to  ascend  the  Scala  Santa* 
(in  the  Lateran)  on  their  knees. 

*  La  Scala  Santa,  close  by  the  Lateran,  is  believed  by  the  faith- 
ful to  be  the  steps  of  the  palace  of  Pilate,  carried  from  Jerusa- 
lem to  Rome.  The  blood  of  the  Saviour  fell  on  them,  and  they 
are  held  in  so  g-reat  veneration,  that  none  ascends  them  but  on 
the  knees.  The  concourse  of  the  devout  has  been  so  great  at 
all  times,  that  these  marble  steps  have  been  worn  out  several 
times,  and  it  has  been  found  necessary  to  cover  the  original  stairs 
with  large  flag-stones. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


105 


Chronicle  of  Cologne. 

The  Chronicle  of  Cologne,  which  goes  down  to 
1400,  is  perhaps  the  best  German  chronicle. 


Land-owners  near  Mhano. — Joseph  in  Egypt. 

[When  I  lived  with  the  minister  and  his  family  in 
Albano,  passing  the  hottest  time  of  the  month  of 
August  in  that  lovely  place,  I  once  walked  with 
him  and  his  son  to  Lariccia.  The  relation  of  the 
actual  cultivator  of  the  soil  to  the  owner,  was  inva- 
riably a  subject  of  deep  interest  to  the  great  historian. 
He  said:] 

This  charming  country  does  not  belong  to  the  in- 
habitants of  any  of  these  houses  you  see  around  you; 
they  have  but  a  very  small  share  of  the  produce  for 
their  labour.  Lariccia*  was  once  rich,  but  a  devas- 
tating famine  raged  here  in  the  middle  ages,  and  the 
poor  inhabitants  to  save  their  lives,  were  obliged  to 
sell  the  land  they  owned  to  the  family  of  the  Savel- 
li.     They  received  grain,  and  retained  but  a  pitiful 

•  Lariccia  is  the  ancient  famous  Aricia. 


106  REMINISCENCES 

share  of  the  produce.  Only  four  families  of  Lariccia 
escaped  and  remained  freeholders.  The  property  of 
the  Savelli  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  powerful 
family  of  the  Chigi,  who  soon  after  absorbed  the 
property  of  the  four  remaining  land-owners ;  and 
thus  this  whole  charming  Vallariccia  belongs  at  pre- 
sent to  the  Chigi.  The  history  of  Joseph,  as  given 
in  the  forty-seventh  chapter  of  Genesis,  is  a  most 
dangerous  precedent  for  an  artful  premier:  ^'  Give 
me  thy  land  and  liberty,  and  I  give  thee  bread.'"  I 
dare  say  it  was  resorted  to  when  the  bargain  was 
made  with  the  starving  Lariccians. 


Greek  Revolution. — Great  requisites  of  a  Libe- 
rator. 

[One  day  we  spoke,  as  we  frequently  did,  of 
Greece,  of  her  doubtful  fate,  and  how  beautiful  her 
destiny  might  be.] 

I  know,  said  Mr.  Niebuhr,  that  the  whole  revolu- 
tion broke  out  too  soon,  and  against  the  wish  of  the 
best  leaders  of  the  whole  affair.  Nothing  is  so  diffi- 
cult in  matters  of  this  kind  as  to  have  the  rare  moral 
power  of  waiting,  and  also  the  penetration  and  char- 
acter to  say — "Now  is  the  time."    Besides,  it  is 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  107 

hardly  ever  possible  to  keep  from  the  best  planned 
mines  political  clowns,  who  put  the  match  to  them, 
or  make  them  otherwise  explode,  before  the  proper- 
moment.  Then  is  the  lime  to  show  the  man;  and 
few  of  those  who  plan  most  judiciously,  are  possess- 
ed of  that  combination  of  powers  which  invents  at 
the  instant  new  means  for  every  new  emergency. 
This  requires  not  only  political  wisdom,  but  political 
genius. 


Ali  Pacha's  Courage. 

Ali  Pacha  was  the  most  courageous  man  of  the 
age.    In  every  moment  of  his  life  he  was  himself. 

[Is  it  not  difficult,  I  observed,  to  designate  him 
as  the  most  courageous  man  of  his  time  ?  How 
could  this  be  ascertained  ?  However,  let  us  compare 
him  to  some  one  ;  to  Napoleon,  for  instance  :  Do 
you  believe  him  firmer  than  Napoleon  ?] 

I  do,  he  replied.  You  may  imagine  that  I  do  not 
believe  the  foolish  stories  of  Napoleon's  cowardice  ; 
but  I  do  believe  that  Ali  Pacha  would  not  have 
turned  pale,  had  he,  instead  of  Napoleon,  entered 
the  Legislative  Hall  on  the  18th  of  Brumaire. 


108 


REMINISCENCES 


Count  Deserve. 

[Mr.  Niebuhr  felt  the  most  lively  esteem  for 
Count  Deserre,  keeper  of  the  seals  of  France  during 
the  administration  of  the  Duke  of  Decazes:  an  inti- 
mate friendship  existed  between  both.  He  said  once 
to  me  :] 

Count  Deserre  is  the  deepest  reflecting  French- 
man I  know.  He  reminds  me  of  that  by-gone 
French  race  of  grave,  thinking  men,  who  seem  to 
have  become  extinct  with  the  night  of  St.  Bartholo- 
mew.   I  feel  a  real  love  for  that  man. 


Visit  to  Pompeii  with  Count  Deserre, 

Mr.  Niebuhr  saw  Count  Deserre  frequently  during 
our  visit  to  Naples,  where  the  latter  was  then  French 
ambassador.  Both  the  families  visited  Pompeii 
together.  When  we  were  walking  through  the 
ashes,  up  to  our  ancles,  Mr.  Niebuhr  said  :] 

It  must  be  acknowledged,  that  had  Joseph  re- 
mained here,  we  should  be  able  to  see  more  of  the 
ancient  city,  and  probably  walk  more  comfortably." 


OF  M,  NIEBUHR. 


109 


"  Undoubtedly,"  answered  the  Count  ;  "  but  I 
should  not  have  the  rare  pleasure  of  walking  with 
you  here." 


Klopstock. — Count  Deserve' s  knowledge  of  him. 

[Count  Deserre,  born  in  1774,  was  very  young 
when,  in  1791,  he  emigrated.  He  was  obliged  to 
support  himself  by  keeping  school  in  a  town  in 
Suabia, — Biberach,  if  my  memory  does  not  deceive 
me, — where  he  made  himself  perfectly  acquainted 
with  German  literature,  which  he  continued  to  study 
in  Hamburgh,  where  Napoleon  had  appointed  him 
president  of  the  court  of  appeal,  after  that  Hanse 
town  had  been  declared  a  bonne  ville  of  the  grand 
empire.  Conversing,  on  our  excursion  to  Pom- 
peii, of  German  authors,  it  was  observed  that  few 
Germans  ever  read  the  whole  Messiah,  as  the  Para- 
dise Lost  is  known  by  but  few  English.] 

There,"  said  Mr.  Niebuhr  to  Count  Deserre, 

put  my  young  friend  here  to  the  blush,  and  recite 
a  passage  of  Klopstock.  I  dare  say  he  has  not  read 
it.    I  should  be  surprised  if  he  had." 

I  ansvvered,  that  "I  must  ask  his  pardon,  though 
I  would  frankly  admit  that  probably  I  should  not 

10 


110  REMINISCENCES 

have  read  the  whole  had  I  not  been  in  prison, 
where  I  found  time  to  read  a  number  of  authors  until 
then  neglected  by  me." 

"  But  can  you  recite  a  passage  replied  Mr. 
Niebuhr  ;  and  he  himself  quoted  a  pretty  long  one. 

Count  Deserre  then  followed,  and  pronounced  an 
equally  long  one  ;  while  I  could  do  nothing  but 
repeat  the  first  six  or  eight  hexameters,  and  feel 
ashamed. 


The  French. 

"  I  believe,"  said  Mr.  Niebuhr  to  Count  Deserre, 
"that  few  things  would  have  a  more  salutary  effect 
upon  the  French  nation  than  a  return  to  a  very  care- 
ful and  thorough  study  of  philology  and  antiquity. 
It  would  contribute  to  steady  them  and  make  them 
honour  history  ;  and,  therefore,  to  consider  them- 
selves more  as  but  one  link  in  the  great  chain  of  na- 
tions." 

Yes,"  said  the  Count,  it  would  somewhat  lead 
off  our  minds  from  eternal  schemes,  and  would  in- 
duce people  not  to  seek  everything  in  futurity." 


( 

• 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


Ill 


Napoleon,  and  the  Triumphal  March  of  Alexan- 
der^ by  Thorwaldsen. 

[Mr.  Niebuhr  told  Count  Deserre,  that  Thorwald- 
sen had  executed  his  beautiful  Triumj3hal  March  of 
Alexander,  in  bas-relief,  in  an  almost  incredibly 
short  time,  for  the  reception  of  Napoleon  on  his 
visit  to  Rome,  in  one  of  the  rooms  of  the  Papal 
palace.] 

For  so  it  was  ordered,"  continued  JMr.  Nie- 
buhr; *«and  it  might  be  a  question  whether  Thor- 
waldsen would  have  produced  so  noble  a  piece  of 
work,  had  he  not  been  obliged  to  create  forthwith 
and  for  him.    His  energy  was  concentrated." 

<^  It  was  this  concentration  of  energy  in  others," 
replied  Count  Deserre,  "in  which  Napoleon  was  so 
great  a  master.  No  man  ever  understood  so  tho- 
roughly the  great  secret  of  making  every  one  work 
and  produce.  High  or  low,  politician  or  artist,  it 
was  all  the  same ;  he  made  every  one  exert  himself 
to  the  utmost  of  his  ability.  He  made  the  whole 
world  march,  and  march  according  to  his  plans." 


112 


REMINISCENCES 


Small  Houses  in  Antiquity. 

[Conversing  in  Pompeii  on  the  limited  space  of 
the  houses  and  temples,  and  the  actually  diminutive 
dimensions  of  the  apartments,  Count  Deserre  had 
observed,  that  the  ancients  could  have  had  no  great 
idea  of  domestic  comfort.    Mr.  Niebuhr  replied  :] 

Our  ideas  of  time  and  space  are  quite  relative. 
All  their  distances  were  smaller  than  ours,  at  least 
at  those  times  when  the  style  in  which  these  houses 
were  built  originated. 

[I  asked  whether  there  was  not  another  reason 
perhaps  to  be  found  in  this,  that  absolutism,  or  un- 
bounded power,  delights  in  vast  dimensions,  as  Asia 
and  the  palaces  of  imperial  Rome  testify,  while  a 
civic  spirit  produces  smaller  buildings  ?] 

Certainly,  said  Mr.  Niebuhr :  look  at  the  small 
houses  and  rooms  in  England.  This  however,  does 
not  apply  to  the  huts  of  the  actually  oppressed. 

[Were  my  object  to  give  my  views,  I  would  ex- 
tend, as  well  as  modify,  my  remark;  but  it  is  to 
give  what  Mr.  Niebuhr  said.] 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


113 


Domestication  of  the  Lazzaroni. 

It  was  a  wise  measure  of  the  French  administra- 
tion in  Naples  to  give  work  to  the  Lazzaroni,  and 
to  pay  them  partly  in  household  utensils,  especially 
mattresses  and  things  of  that  kind.  Domesticate  a 
man,  and  you  civilize  him.  Some,  probably,  sold 
their  mattresses  and  continued  to  sleep  in  their  bas- 
kets,*but  some  did  not.  A  mattress  induced  them 
to  buy  a  bed,  to  sleep  in  a  room,  to  provide  some 
more  furniture — in  fact,  to  become  domestic*  in  the 
true  sense  of  the  word. 


Joseph  Bonaparte's  Government  in  Naples. 

Historical  facts  must  be  acknowledged  ;  ,  who 

knows  more  about  the  whole  government  of  Naples 
than  perhaps  any  one  else,  says,  that  Joseph  Bona- 
parte's government  would  have  given  great  e/an5  to 

*  The  English  reader  must  here  remember  that  the  word  do- 
mestic is  derived  from  domus,  house.  The  German  word  which 
Mr.  Niebuhr  used  was  hduslich,  t'vom  haus,  house,  literally  trans- 
lated housiskf  if  such  a  word  mig-ht  be  formed. 

10  * 


114  REMINISCENCES 

the  arts  and  sciences,  trade  and  everything,  and 
would  have  established  honesty  in  the  administra- 
tion— si  cela  est  possible^'  in  this  country,  he 
added,  shrugging  his  shoulders. 


Influence  of  the  Cro  wn. 

A  constitutional  monarchy  cannot  get  along  v^^ith- 
out  a  considerable  influence  of  the  crown  in  the 
popular  branch  of  the  representatives. 


Pisa. 

Pisa  gives  the  student  of  the  middle  ages  in  Italy 
those  clear  perceptions  which  Pompeii  affords  to  the 
student  of  antiquity. 


Clausura  of  Convents. 


[Mr.  Niebuhr,  his  son  Marcus,  and  myself,  visited 
a  convent,  the  monks  of  which  appeared  greatly 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  115 

alarmed  from  suspecting  little  Marcus  to  be  a  girl  ; 
owing  probably,  to  his  long  and  blond  ringlets. 
They  hesitated  giving  us  permission  to  enter  ;  and 
when  they  would  not  even  trust  Mr.  Niebuhr's 
positive  assurance  that  the  individual  in  question 
was  a  boy,  he  said,  with  a  somewhat  sarcastic 
smile,] 

Pray,  how  do  your  consciences  get  over  the  female 
•  fleas,  which,  I  dare  say,  are  in  goodly  abundance  in 
your  convent  ? 

[The  ever  ready,  Jih  !  che  vuoV  che  dica  ?  was 
here  also  the  answer.  However,  the  permission 
was  granted.  On  cur  way  home,  Mr.  Niebuhr 
said  :] 

You  smiled  at  my  remark  about  the  fleas  :  well, 
do  you  know  that  many  convents  exclude  female 
cats  as  within  the  clausura  ?  However,  something 
may  be  said  in  favour  of  excluding  domestic  animals 
of  different  sexes  from  a  community,  the  charac- 
ter of  which  is  intended  to  be  essentially  contem- 
plative. 


116 


REMINISCENCES 


Measures  which  would  promote  the  cultivation  of 
the  soil  in  many  parts  of  Italy. 

[Daring  our  residence  in  Albano  we  visited  the 
Rotunda.    Mr.  Niebuhr  believed  an  antique  wall  to 
have  been  built  by  Domitian  for  an  encampment  of 
the  Germans.    We  then  saw  the  church  of  St.  Paul 
— a  convent  of  missionaries,  where  Mr.  Niebuhr  • 
said  :] 

Two  measures  would  very  rapidly  and  essentially 
promote  the  welfare  of  Italy  :  if  the  largest  land- 
owners— for  instance  here,  the  Princes  Chigi — were 
obliged  to  rent  out  the  greater  part  of  their  estates 
as  fee-farms,  so  that  the  cultivator  might  become 
again,  in  part  at  least,  the  owner  of  the  land  ;  and 
if  permission  were  granted  to  every  inmate  of  a 
convent  to  leave  it  with  an  appropriate  pension  for 
life.  Wherever  all  the  members  of  a  convent 
should  agree  to  avail  themselves  of  this  permission, 
a  capital  might  be  created  out  of  the  property  of  the 
convent,  part  of  which  might  be  appropriated  for 
the  support  of  the  monks  ;  to  whom,  nevertheless, 
the  hope  ought  to  be  held  out,  that  they  would 
place  themselves  in  a  still  better  situation  by  some 
useful  employment, — for  instance,  as  teachers,  as 
assistants  in  hospitals,  or  printing  offices  of  govern- 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  1 17 

ment.  The  rest  of  the  convent's  property  ought  in 
such  cases  to  be  made  at  once  productive.  But  no 
robbing  on  the  side  of  government,  no  mere  swallow- 
ing up  of  all  this  valuable  property  by  the  treasury, — 
in  short  no  confiscation  !  On  the  contrary,  its  wise 
appropriation  ought  to  form  at  once  a  part  of  this  sys- 
tem of  secularisation,  which  i  n  course  of  time  must  take 
,  place  ;  for  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  Italy  will  be 
for  ever  deprived  of  her  prosperity  by  this  immense 
waste.  Convents  have  done  much  good,  and  were 
once  quite  according  to  the  spirit  and  even  the  wants 
of  the  age;  but  times  change.  What  is  wise  to- 
day may  be  the  contrary  a  Jiundred  years  hence- 
Some  convents  need  not  be  dissolved. 


Mr.  Niehuhr  does  not  want  a  title  of  Nobility, 

I  have  been  asked  whether  I  wish  for  a  title  of 
nobility.  I  never  could  bring  myself  to  accept  of 
such  an  offer.  I  should  feel  as  if  I  were  insulting 
the  memory  of  my  father,  whom  I  am  far  from  re- 
sembling. 


118 


REMINISCENCES 


Thorwaldsen, 

Thorwaldsen  has  not  that  plastic  certainly  or  firm- 
ness which  distinguishes  the  ancients  in  so  high  a 
degree.  You  can  see  in  Thorwaldsen  that  he  works 
from  without;  you  see  but  the  surface.  It  is  differ- 
ent with  the  works  of  the  ancient  masters;  they 
look  as  if  they  had  grown  from  within.* 

[I  answered  : — I  am  sorry  my  feeling  is  in  this 
case  so  directly  opposite  to  yours.  But  yesterday  I 
saw  again  Thorwaldsen's  incomparable  Shepherd- 
Boy  and  his  Graces  ;  and  in  looking  at  them  it  be- 
came suddenly  clear  to  me  how  the  ancient  artist 
fell  in  love  with  the  work  of  his  own  hand,  and 
prayed  to  the  gods  to  breathe  life  into  it.  I  felt  a 
shudder  after  contemplating  those  heavenly  images, 
when  I  thought  that  they  were  but  of  stone,  subject 
to  every  mechanical  law  which  physical  nature  has 
to  obey.    I  cannot  help  declaring,  at  the  risk  of  be- 

*  That  I  g-ive  this  sentiment  of  Mr.  Niebuhr  merely  with  a 
view  more  accurately  to  characterize  him,  not  Mr.  Thorwaldsen, 
is  clear.  I  have  given  already  in  the  preface  my  opinion  with 
reg-ard  to  Mr.  Niebuhr's  sensibility  in  the  sphere  of  the  fine  arts. 
^It  may  be  interesting  to  vis  to  know  the  opinion  of  a  Napoleon 
on  Homer,  in  order  to  judge  the  hero  ;  but  his  praise  can  hardly 
enhance  our  veneration  for  the  poem. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  119 

ing  thought  a  heretic,  that  some  works  of  Thorwald- 
sen's,  among  which  I  count  the  Shepherd-Boy,  seem 
to  me  equal  to  the  most  perfect  sculptures  of  anti- 
quity. At  the  same  time,  it  is  Thorwaldsen  through 
whom  I  have  become  initiated  in  the  ancient  art.  I 
have  often  gone  with  delight  through  the  Vatican — 
a  delight  I  had  never  experienced  before,  and  how 
differently  appeared  to  me  all  these  witnesses  of  an- 
cient perfection  after  I  had  understood  Thorwald- 
sen! At  least,  I  hope  and  feel  I  have  understood 
him. 

All  Mr.  Niebuhr  replied,  was  :] 

And  would  you  say  the  same  of  Canova  ? 

[Certainly  not,  I  said.] 


Character  of  Napoleon. 

[I  had  returned  from  a  visit  to  the  Capitol,  and 
remarked  how  much  I  had  been  struck  with  the  re- 
semblance of  the  mouth,  chin,  and  cheek  of  the  co- 
lossal head  of  Claudius,  to  the  corresponding  parts 
of  Napoleon  ;  and  that  it  had  surprised  me  how  all 
the  Caracallas,  Domitians,  &c.  had  the  large  round 
chin  of  Napoleon.] 

Nevertheless,  Mr.  Niebuhr  said,  Napoleon  was 


120  REMDOSCEXCES 

not  cruel.  He  would  not  indeed  hesitate  to  sacvi- 
fice  human  life  in  order  to  obtain  his  political  ob- 
jects ;  but  he  had  no  pleasure  in  destroying  it.  still 
less  in  inflicting  pain  :  nor  would  he  inflict  death 
for  mere  yengeance ;  though  I  beliere  it  cost  him 
but  little  to  order  any  sacrifice  if  he  thought  it  ne- 
cessary. In  his  character  there  prevailed  too  much 
of  an  iron  will  to  hesitate  in  such  a  case. 


Em  i^ris. 

I  recollect^  when  Napoleon  permitted  the  emi- 
grants to  return,  my  friends  whom  I  had  among 
them  would  ask  me  how  I  thought  it  would  agree 
with  their  duty  were  they  to  make  use  of  the  per- 
mission. I  invariably  told  them  that  they  ought  to 
return  :  whoever  ruled,  usurper  or  not,  France  was 
their  country,  and  to  France  they  ought  to  return. 
The  English  have  proper  views  respecting  the  new 
governments  and  dynasties. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


121 


Napoleon. 

Napoleon  knew  how  to  break  men  like  dogs.  He 
would  trample  upon  them,  and  again  show  them  a 
piece  of  bread  and  pat  them,  so  that  they  came  frisk- 
ing to  him:  and  no  monarch  ever  had  so  many  abso- 
lute instruments  of  his  absolute  will  as  Napoleon. 
I  do  not  speak  only  of  his  immediate  servants; 
princes  and  sovereigns  showed  themselves  equally 
well  broken. 


Martyrs, 

[We  visited  the  Temple  of  Claudius,  or  the  Church 
of  St.  Stefano  Rotondo,  where  Pomarancio  and 
Antonio  Tempesta  have  tried  their  skill  and  inge- 
nuity in  painting  all  varieties  of  martyrdom.] 

The  martyrs,  Mr.  Niebuhr  observed,  were  tor- 
tured enough;  but  most  of  these  representations  are 
fictions.     So  much  for  history;  and  as  to  the  fine 
arts,  the  disgusting  is  certainly  not  their  sphere. 
11 


122 


REMINISCENCES 


Jin  antique  Knife  of  Stone. 


[During  our  residence  in  Albano,  he  had  heard 
that  an  ancient  knife,  made  of  stone,  had  been  found 
near  Cori,  the  ancient  Cora,  the  town  of  Latiura,  on 
the  confines  of  the  Volsci,  which  the  reader  will  re- 
member having  frequently  found  mentioned  in  Mr. 
Niebuhr's  History.  He  asked  me  whether  I  would 
get  it  for  him  ;  and  I  sallied  forth  on  horseback, 
with  my  gun  across  the  saddle,  as  if  I  was  making 
an  excursion  in  Greece.  The  country  was  unsafe  at 
that  time,  and  my  way  lay  through  the  mountains, 
off  the  main  road.  Desirous  as  Mr.  Niebuhr  was 
of  obtaining  the  knife,  he  hesitated  when  I  came  to 
take  leave,  and  I  had  to  persuade  him  to  let  me  go. 
1  was  obliged  to  pay  a  high  price  for  the  antique 
knife,  as  the  peasant  who  had  found  it,  near  the 
Temple  of  Hercules  on  Corimonte,  easily  saw  that  I 
had  come,  for  the  purpose  of  buying  his  knife,  from 
a  considerable  distance.  I  had  to  ask  my  landlord 
for  this  peasant,  and  my  errand  was  soon  known  all 
over  the  little  place.  When  I  returned  from  my 
journey  through  a  most  interesting  part  of  classical 
country,  on  which  I  fain  would  dwell  longer,  did 
not  the  length  of  this  preamble  already  far  exceed 
the  space  which  the  remark  of  Mr.  Niebuhr  will 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  123 

occupy,  he  was  much  pleased  with  the  spoil,  and 
said:] 

This  knife  was  used  only  for  sacrifices  after  the 
conclusion  of  peace.  It  is  very  old.  Never  mind 
the  price;  with  me  these  things  have  somewhat  the 
value  of  relics;  I  am  glad  you  have  got  it. 


Monte  Cavo, 


[I  ascended  Monte  Cavo  with  him  ;  I  enjoyed 
that  vast  and  instructive  view  with  Mr.  Niebuhr. 
What  I  enjoyed,  and  saw,  and  learned  from  that 
spot,  is  strongly  engraven  in  my  mind.  My  eyes 
— and  I  have  the  fortune  of  possessing  peculiarly 
good  ones — swept  over  that  extensive  plain,  of 
which  every  part  is  of  deep  classical  interest ;  for 
here  it  is  where  giant  Rome,  which  ruled  the  uni- 
verse, and  still  affects  the  life  and  thought  of  every 
one  of  us,  was  reared.  The  dark  blue  ocean,  calm, 
placid,  pure,  and  unaffected  by  all  the  ages  that  have 
passed  over  its  waves,  told,  like  a  great  witness,  of 
the  early  bards  inspired  by  its  dangers  and  its  beau- 
ties; of  the  Roman  fleets  sent  to  Carthage  or  to 
Spain;  of  the  Saracens,  who  landed  and  plundered 
here;  and  of  all  deeds  down  to  the  latest  times^ 


124  REMINISCENCES 

when  the  British  hero  of  the  sea  flew  from  isle  to 
isle,  and  shore  to  shore,  as  if  these  waters  with  all 
their  winds  were  his  domain.  When,  too,  I  saw 
the  distant  islands,  and  even  thatof  Giglio,*  I  could 
not  help  breaking  forth  in  words  which  expressed 
how  powerfully  history,  Nature,  his  presence,  the 
lovely  child,  the  convent  where  Jupiter  had  once 
his  temple,  the  traces  of  early  ingenuity — of  ages, 
long,  long  past,  the  road  still  in  good  order,  though 
made  thousands  of  years  ago — how  powerfully  all 
this  affected  me.  Here,  said  I,  a  historian  must  feel 
his  vocation,  or  never;  and  here  too,  or  nowhere, 
man  must  feel  humble.  The  monk  who  pointed  out 
to  us  the  diiferent  distant  objects  said,  that  on  pecu- 
liarly favourable  days  Corsica  and  Sardinia  could  be 
discerned  in  the  light  of  the  setting  sun.  Mr.  Nie- 
buhr's  pleasure  was  exceedingly  great,  and  only  di- 
minished by  not  being  able  to  see  as  far  as  I  could. 
I  think  the  passage  in  his  History,  where  he  speaks 
of  Alba,  and  the  sight  from  the  top  of  this  mountain, 
and  the  ancient  works  near  it,  bears  the  stamp  of  his 
feelings  when  on  this  spot ;  though  he  had  to  re- 
strain them  by  that  calmness  of  style  which  is  ne- 
cessary for  a  work  describing  the  history  of  a  nation, 
and  not  the  feelings  and  experience  of  an  indi- 


*  Th(?  ancient  Igilium. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  125 

vidual.*  We  remained  a  long  time  at  this  sacred 
place,  and  I  remember  that  he  repeatedly  said, 
Could  I  but  borrow  your  eyes  !] 

Indeed,  said  he,  this  spot  is  noble  ;  and  1  should 
be  willing  to  give  much  to  have  enjoyed  the  view 
from  Acrocorinth  as  you  describe  it.t  Views  of 
this  kind  are  exceedingly  instructive  ;  and  they 
correct  the  image  always  formed  in  our  minds  of 
countries  and  places  which  we  read  or  hear  much. 
I  wish,  hovvever,  I  had  your  eyes. 

[I  asked  him  whetlier  he  had  met  with  the  same 
difficulty  that  I  had  frequently  found  in  Greece,  of 
impressing  the  real  topographic  picture  of  a  country 
on  my  mind  without  any  admixture  of  that  image 
which  I  had  previously  formed — contracted,  I  might 
almost  say  :  for  so  vividly  was  I  impressed  with 
the  representations  of  certain  places  and  territories 
of  antiquity,  as  well  as  of  modern  times,  before  I 
had  seen  them,  merely  from  reading  or  hearing 
often  of  them,  that  I  actually  had  found  it  difficult, 
in  some  cases,  entirely  to  erase  the  previous  image, 

*  See  Niebuhr's  History  of  Ro  me,  English  translation,  vol.  I. 
pages  168  and  169. 

f  In  my  Journal  during  my  stay  in  Greece  mentioned  in  a  note 
to  the  preface.  A  translation  of  the  passage  alluded  to  in  the 
text  appeared  in  «*  The  Stranger  in  America,'*  quite  at  the  end 
of  the  work. 

11% 


136  REMINISCENCES 

and  to  substitute  for  it  the  correct  one  obtained  by 
personal  observation.] 

I  have  experienced  this  difficulty  in  a  degree,  but 
^  by  no  means  so  much  as  you  have,  for  your  imagi- 
nation is  much  livelier.  It  is  one  of  the  drawbacks 
you  people  with  an  active  imagination  have  for  the 
pleasures  you  derive  from  the  same  source. 

[It  would  be  difficult  indeed,  I  observed,  to  decide 
on  which  side,  in  the  end,  the  balance  sinks — the 
scale  of  pleasure  or  pain.] 

A  lively  imagination  is  a  great  gift,  Mr.  Niebuhr 
said,  provided  early  education  tutors  it.  If  not,  it 
is  nothing  but  a  soil  equally  luxuriant  for  all  kinds 
of  seeds. 

[It  is  my  habit  to  make  on  spots,  such  as  that  on 
which  we  then  were,  panoramic  croquis ;  that  is  to 
say,  I  draw  the  prominent  objects  around  me  as 
they  present  themselves  with  regard  to  situation  in 
this  half  perspective,  half  bird's-eye  view.  I  have 
found  them  most  valuable  memoranda  for  my  Jour- 
nal J  and  when  I  made  one  on  this  spot,  Mr.  Nie- 
buhr very  much  approved  this  way  of  writing  down 
a  vast  view.  ] 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


127 


The  Fall  of  Prussia. 

[The  same  day,  when  we  ascended  the  mountain 
in  the  morning  on  our  asses,  we  saw  oak-trees, 
which,  by  a  scries  of  associations,  led  him  to  tell  me. 
the  following  simple  anecdote  :] 

When,  after  the  battle  of  Jena,  everything  seemed 
to  be  lost  for  Prussia,  I  one  day,  on  my  journey  to 
Konigsberg,  talked  with  the  coachman,  an  old  pea- 
sant, on  the  deplorable  state  of  things.  *<Well," 
said  the  peasant,  don't  know  how  it  is;  that 
battle  of  Jena  is  but  one  battle,  after  all;  and  I  have 
never  yet  felled  a  sound  old  oak  with  one  blow.  It 
cannot  be  all  lost."  Had  but  all  thought  like  this 
peasant,  it  might  have  ended  differently. 

[If  all  had  thought  like  the  peasant,  the  oak  would 
have  been  sound  ;  but  that  the  tree  fell  by  one 
stroke,  is  the  very  proof  that  the  oak  was  not 
sound.] 


Canova. 

[A  gentiluomo  of  the  Papal  court,  dressed  in 
black,  with  a  sword,  informed  the  minister  of  the 


128  REMINISCENCES 

death  of  Canova.  I  happened  to  be  present  ;  Mr. 
Niebuhr  said  :] 

There  is  one  good  man  less  !  Canova  was  an  ex- 
cellent man,  liberal  in  a  rare  degree,  kind,  without 
envy  or  jealousy,  faithful,  pious,  and  of  a  reflecting 
mind  withal.  He  felt  a  true  attachment  to  Pius  VII. 
which  was  probably  increased  by  the  misfortunes  of 
the  pope  and  his  dignified  demeanour  in  affliction. 
Canova  would  speak  of  him  with  a  warmth  which 
was  truly  edifying.  I  like  his  idea  of  making  a 
picture  for  the  church  of  the  little  village  of  his  birth. 
Don't  you  believe  ^that  such  a  w-ork  will  of  itself 
give  certain  moral  elans  to  the  whole  little  Pos- 
sagno  ?  It  will  raise  the  morale  of  the  village  ;  it 
establishes  a  visible  connexion  between  the  people 
of  that  obscure  place  and  a  gifted  and  successful  man, 
which  is  leaving  a  great  legacy.  So  are  public 
statues  of  great  moral  value  ;  they  excite,  remind, 
teach  :  how  very  superficial  are  those  who  think 
they  are  but  proofs  of  overwrought  gratitude  or 
flattery  !  To  be  sure,  they  have  been  abused — what 
has  not  ?  Canova  was  ever  ready  to  assist  and  guide 
young  artists  ;  and  his  idea  of  establishing  prizes 
for  the  most  successful  among  them  was  excellent. 

[This  latter  observation  may  stand  in  some  con- 
nexion with  the  fact,  that  Mr.  Niebuhr,  after  his  re- 
turn from  Rome,  appropriated  his  salary,  as  profes- 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  129 

sor  in  the  university  of  Bonn,  to  prizes  to  be  award- 
ed to  the  best  treatises  on  subjects  selected  and  offer- 
ed by  himself.] 


Indulgences. 

[I  had  visited  the  church  del  Nome  di  Maria, 
erected  on  the  square  of  the  column  of  Trajan  in 
commemoration  of  the  liberation  of  Vienna  from  the 
Turks  in  the  year  1683,  and  had  found  there,  on  a 
marble  slab,  the  following  inscription: 

PER  CONCESSIONE  DEI  SOMMI  PONTIFICI  SISTO  V. 
INNOCENZO  XII.  BENEDETTO  XIV.  E  PIO  VI.  CONFER- 
MATA  DAL  REGNANTE  PIO  VII.  CHIUNQUE  VISITA 
QUESTA  CHIESA  ADEMPIENDO  LE  ALTRE  OPERE  IN- 
GIUNTE,  ACQUISTA  TUTTE  LE  INDULGENZE  ANNESSE 
ALLA  VISITA  DI  QUALUNQUE  ALTRA  CHIESA  DI 
R03IA. 

(By  concession  of  the  pontiffs  Sixtus  V.  Innocent 
XII.  Benedict  XIV.  and  Pius  VI.  confirmed  by  the 
reigning  Pius  VIL,  whoever  visits  this  church,  ful- 
filling at  the  same  time  the  other  works  enjoined 
[in  order  to  obtain  indulgences,]  obtains  all  indul- 
gences annexed  to  the  visit  of  any  other  church  of 
Rome.) 


130  REMINISCENCES 

I  told  Mr.  Niebuhr  of  this  sweeping  indulgence, 
comparing  it  to  tlie  treaties  which  grant  terms 
"  equal  to  the  most  favoured  nations."  He 
said:] — 

You  smile;  yet  this  very  expression  has  been  used 
in  granting  religious  favours  to  churches  or  socie- 
ties.* It  is  surprising  that  the  Roman  church  has 
obstinately  clung  to  carrying  out  the  idea  of  indul- 
gences to  so  gross  an  extent;  for,  1  believe,  had 
Rome  promptly  discountenanced  the  shocking  abuse 
of  indulgences  as  practised  in  Germany  before  the 

*  An  altar  is  called  privileged,  when  any  peculiar  indulgence 
is  attached  to  it.  When  we  visited  the  church  of  Santa  Ag- 
nesia,  the  under-curate,  who  showed  the  church,  told  us,  what 
in  fact  is  well  known  to  be  matter  of  general  belief,  that  as  soon 
as  a  mass  is  read  at  the  chief  altar,  a  soul  leaves,  and  needs  must 
leave,  purgatory — Tanto  e  privUeggiata  la  nostra  chiesa!"  he 
continued.  "Per  altro  se  trova  indulgenza plenaria per  I'anima 
per  laquale  la  messa  6  detta  a  qiiesto  altar e,''  (pointing  at  an 
altar,)  "  algiorno  della  fesfa  delta  nostra  chiesa.  E  se  I'anima  pella 
quale  se  legge  la  messa  non  sta  piu  nel purgatorio,  allora  esce  una 
altra,  perche  uscire  debbe  una  a  forza  della  messa." 

(Thus privileged  is  our  church!  Moreover,  plenary  indulgence 
is  to  be  found  for  the  soul  for  which  mags- is  read  at  that  altar 
there,  on  the  day  of  the  feast  of  our  church.  And  if  the  soul 
for  which  the  mass  is  intended  has  already  left  purgatory,  an- 
other leaves  that  place,  for  one  needs  must  leave  by  the  power 
of  the  mass.) 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  131 

Reformation,  the  latter  might  have  been  retarded  for 
a  long  time.  "Don't  ask  too  much,"  rs  a  maxim  of 
the  greatest  importance,  as  well  for  a  poor  wagoner 
who  lives  by  the  labour  of  his  horse,  as  for  a  king  or 
pope, — for  missionaries,  successful  parties,  nations, 
indeed  for  every  one. 

[I  observed,  that  if  a  person  would  make  a  syste- 
matic tour  through  Rome,  ^and  obtain  all  the  indul- 
gences offered  by  paying  at  the  fixed  days  at  the 
proper  altars,  he  might  easily  acquire  the  indulgence 
of  a  million  of  years.] 

Undoubtedly,  Mr.  Niebuhr  answered  ;  but  you 
know  that  these  indulgences,  often  granted  at  once 
for  several  thousand  years,  extend  to  purgatory,  and 
if  you  do  not  stand  in  need  of  the  whole,  you  may 
pass  the  balance  to  the  favour  of  whomsoever  you 
see  fit.  It  is  these  things  which  make  so  many 
Italians  Atheists.  They  cannot  swallow  this,  and 
therefore  throw  away  everything  else  with  it.  Mat- 
ters stand  very  ill  in  many  Catholic  countries  on 
account  of  these  extravagances.  In  South  America 
hardly  any  people  but  women  goto  mass.  And  yet 
a  truly  pious  and  devout  heart  finds  its  way  through 
all  the  mazes  to  God.  There  are  many  persons  who 
leave  these  matters  undecided,  as  every  man  is 
obliged  to  do  in  numerous  cases  in  life,  when,  with- 
out giving  his  positive  and  well-considered  assent, 


132  REMINISCENCES 

he  nevertheless  does  not  feel  called  upon  to  reform. 
And  not  a  few  of  these  are  among  the  highest  cler- 
gy, the  popes  themselves.  But  this  is  not  what  I 
wanted  to  say  :  I  mean,  there  are  some  persons  who 
devoutly  believe  every  jot  even  of  these  things,  and 
whose  hearts  nevertheless  are  pure  as  snow. — 
There  was  an  old  Franciscan  formerly  here  who 
used  to  visit  us  frequently;  he  is  now  bishop  of 
Corfu.*  I  believe  him  as  good  and  truly  religious 
a  man  as  I  have  ever  known — abounding  with  the 
milk  of  human  kindness;  and  yet  he  believed  in 
every  doctrine  and  observance  of  the  Roman 
Church,  in  all  her  intolerant  mandates  against  us, 
and  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt,  in  all  the  mira- 
cles and  whatever  else  his  order  believes  of  St.  Fran- 
cis. His  natural  religious  constitution  was  loo 
strong  :  I  can  imagine  a  saint  under  his  serene 
image. — Marcus  was  quite  little  at  the  time  I  knew 
this  old  man  ;  and  the  child  would  often  take  the 
cord  of  the  venerable  Franciscan,  and  pull  it,  as  if 
to  play  horse  with  him.  I  was  sometimes  afraid  it 
might  embarrass  him,  as  being  in  his  eyes  some- 
what a  profanation  ;  but  he  always  smiled  with  the 

*  I  believe  I  am  right,  though  it  may  be  another  of  the  Ionian 
Islands. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  133 

greatest  kindness  upon  the  child.*  He,  I  am  sure, 
would  not  have  wished  all  heretics  lost  for  ever : 
nor  does  he  probably  believe  they  will  be,  or  feel 
so  ;  yet  he  may  try  to  force  it  upon  his  mind  as  an 
article  of  his  faith.  Religion  is  so  ethereal  a  thing, 
that  as  soon  as  you  bring  it  down  to  articles  of  faith, 
aiming  at  the  consistency  which  we  expect  in  all 
other  matters,  we  are  led  to  consequences,  some  of 
which  one  or  other  cannot  make  part  of  his  positive 
and  li\^ng  belief.  There  are  hard  things  in  the  ar- 
ticles of  the  English  church,  in  Calvinism,  in  the 
symbolic  books  (of  the  Lutherans  j)  but  God  is 
wiser  than  all,  and  his  power  reaches  hearts  every- 
where. 

[I  added,  that  I  had  observed  a  rapid  increase  in 
the  number  of  years  of  offered  indulgences  at  the 
various  altars,  the  nearer  I  came  to  Rome,  until  I 
found  this  abundance  of  indulgences  in  almost  every 
chapel  in  Rome  itself ;  while  a  poor  man  in  Bohe- 
mia has  to  ascend  a  high  hill  on  his  knees,  and  ob- 
tains after  all  but  nine  years'  indulgence.  If  it  is 
natural,  according  to  the  whole  system,  that  Rome 
abounds  in  indulgences,  since  the  absolving  power 

*  what  a  subject  for  a  picture  !  equally  excellent  in  point  of 
art  on  account  of  the  noble  contrasts  it  offers,  as  for  its  mean- 
ing. 

12 


134 


REMINISCENCES 


to  which  many  pious  pilgrims  travel  to  have  their 
souls  unburdened  resides  here,  a  distinction  ought  to 
be  made  between  natives  and  strangers  ;  otherwise 
the  former  have  it  indeed  too  easy  :  and  though  it 
may  be  considered  expedient  to  attach  great  politi- 
cal privileges  to  the  birthright  of  an  individual,  it 
would  seem  as  ill-according  with  the  whole  idea  of 
a  Christian  church  to  attach  privileges  of  such  mag- 
nitude for  the  state  of  the  soul,  to  the  mere  domicile 
in  Rome.]  ^ 

Nothing  can  be  more  curious,  he  answered,  than 
the  details  and  application  of  some  of  these  doctrines. 
It  has  often  surprised  me  when  I  have  to  obtain  dis- 
pensations for  Prussian  subjects ;  yet  it  is  all  but 
systematic  consistency. 


Visit  to  the  Collegio  Romano. 

[Of  the  golden  and  finely  executed  collar  found 
in  the  sepulchre  of  the  Emperor  Otho  II.  and  now 
preserved  in  the  Collegio  Romano,  Mr.  Niebuhr 
thought  that  it  had  been  brought  from  Constantinople 
with  the  empress.  Nothing  seemed  to  please  him 
so  much  in  the  Collegio  as  the  work  representing 
the  Boy  catching  the  Cricket.] 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


135 


Mr,  Capuccini,  the  Secretary  of  Cardinal 
Consalvi. 

Capuccini  (then  secretary  of  Cardinal  Consalvi, 
secretary  of  state  to  Pope  Pius  VII.)  is  a  man  of 
rare  merit  and  character:  he  works  exceedingly 
hard,  and  yet  his  salary  is  very  small.  The  Cardinal 
one  day  in  conversation  with  me  praised  him  much  ; 
in  this  I  most  heartily  joined  ;  and  I  took  occasion 
to  allude  to  Capuccini's  inadequate  remuneration, 
and  how  he  probably  would  be  entirely  forgotten  on 
a  change  of  the  sovereign,  which  might  so  easily 
happen.  The  Cardinal  said  he  knew  it,  but  he 
never  would  forget  the  important  services  which  his 
secretary  had  rendered  him. 

[Why,  then,  I  afterwards  asked,  has  he  not  yet 
promoted  him  ?] 

Because,  replied  Mr.  Niebuhr,  he  needs  him.  Per- 
haps he  does  not  want  him  to  feel  independent.  It 
is  one  of  the  severest  trials  of  men  in  power  to  re- 
ward adequately  their  confidential  assistants,  and 
really  working  secretaries,  if  men  of  merit  and  ta- 
lent. Few  persons  stand  this  test ;  and  Capuccini 
would  not  be  the  first  of  his  class  who  interfered 
with  his  own  career  by  his  own  usefulness.  Were 
he  not  so  indispensable  to  Cardinal  Consalvi,  he 


136 


REMINISCENCES 


would  be  in  the  enjoyment  of  some  fine  living  ere 
this.  Ministers  or  monarchs  have  often  been  called 
ungrateful  for  not  advancing  their  secretaries;  yet 
this  arises  frequently  not  from  ingratitude,  but  from 
the  knowledge  of  their  great  value,  and  also  from 
indolence,  to  which  we  are  all  subject.  It  is  an  un- 
comfortable thing  to  lose  one's  index,  writer,  think- 
er— everything,  and  have  all  the  trouble  over  again 
of  making  the  new  secretary  understand  you.  No 
officer,  in  fact,  is  so  difficult  to  be  found  as  a  secretary 
who  suits  precisely.  Sometimes  they  are  purposely 
kept  low,  that  they  may  notavspire  at  independence. 


Views  of  antiquity. 


[I.  had  told  Mr.  Niebuhr  that  I  owed  to  him  a 
much  more  correct  view  of  antiquity,  or,  I  might 
say,  feeling  toward  it.  Until  I  had  become  ac- 
quainted with  him,  antiquity  had  been  to  me  some- 
thing totally  separated  from  us,  as  if  hardly  the 
same  springs  of  action  were  applicable  to  man  in 
modern  and  in  ancient  times.  I  hardly  ever  had 
used  my  own  feelings,  joys,  or  griefs,  as  keys  to 
understand  the  sentiments  which  inspired  the  ancient 
poets  or  writers.    My  visit  to  Greece  had  prepared 


OF  M.  NIEBUUR.  137 

me  for  a  diflferent  conception  of  those  times,  so  re- 
mote in  years,  and  yet  so  near  to  us  by  the  civili- 
zation we  have  derived  from  them,  and  by  our  edu- 
cation :  but  my  intercourse  with  him  had  placed 
me,  I  hoped,  in  a  more  proper  relation.] 

There  were  times,  Mr.  Niebuhr  said,  when  peo- 
ple would  have  considered  it  almost  like  a  degrada- 
tion of  the  ancients,  had  a  philologer  attempted  to 
explain  their  history  or  language  by  corresponding 
relations  or  phenomena  of  our  own.  The  classical 
literature  was  superior  to  anything  modern  nations 
had  at  the  time  of  the  revival  of  the  sciences  ;  they 
therefore  received  everything  coming  from  the  an- 
cients with  a  reverence  which  would  not  allow  a 
doubt  of  anything,  and  required  no  reconcilement 
of  any  contradictory  statements  in  them.  But  you 
will  observe,  that,  wherever  a  practical  man,  a  states- 
man for  instance,  occupied  himself  with  the  classics, 
how  differently  he  treated  them  from  the  school- 
master. The  latter  treated  the  classics  as  if  they 
were  something  entirely  beyond  the  sphere  of  real- 
ity ;  and  this,  indeed,  is  still  the  case  with  many. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  flippant 
impertinent  familiarity,  and  such  has  not  been  very 
rare  with  the  modern  French  before  the  Revolution. 
Its  only  object  is  to  divert,  from  the  contrast  pro- 

12* 


138  REMINISCENCES 

duced  by  a  sudden  comparison  between  the  most 
remote  objects  and  those  of  our  daily  and  common 
life.  This  is  merely  to  amuse,  and  can  amuse  the 
little-minded  only.  Sometimes,  indeed,  it  may  be 
witty  ;  but  that  is  a  different  thing. 


Influence  of  Teutonic  Tribes  upon  the  Italian 
Language. 

It  is  a  constant  saying  with  the  Italians,  that  the 
conquering  nations,  the  Germans  particularly,  ruined 
the  Latin  Language,  and  thus  caused  the  Italian. 
They  are  much  mistaken  ;  for  there  is  really  very 
little  Teutonic  admixture  in  the  Italian  idiom.  I 
speak  of  words;  as  to  grammatical  forms,  they  are 
modern.  The  ancient  verb  and  substantive  ceased  to 
continue  as  soon  as  the  ancient  spirit  had  fled.  Besides, 
numberless  formations  of  the  Italian  existed  among 
Romans,  though  only  among  the  low  people.  To 
change  the  termination  us  and  urn  into  o  is  nothing 
but  a  negligent  pronunciation  ;  and  there  are  inscrip- 
tions which  show  that  this  was  not  restricted  to  the 
very  lowest  circles  only  ;  in  fact,  it  is  a  very  natu- 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  139 

ral  change  in  speaking  quick.*  So,  also,  the  use  of 
habere  as  auxiliary  is  ancient  :  there  are  some  pas- 
sages in  Greek  and  Roman  writers  which  show 
this. 

[I  replied  that  the  use  of  the  modern  Greek  s'x^ 
showed  the  same.] 

Certainly,  he  answered  ;  and  as  to  the  article,  the 
many  compound  conjunctions,  and  the  prepositions, 
you  can  trace  all  very  easily.  They  originated 
during  the  low  ages,  when  people  had  forgotten  to 
speak  with  precision  and  manliness,  and  to  perceive 
all  the  different  relations  with  grammatical  acute- 
ness.  Observe  how  many  words  children  and  low 
people  require  to  tell  a  simple  story,  if  tliey  are  not 
excited  by  passion.  Passion,  to  be  sure,  is  eloquent 
and  brief.  It  is  for  the  cultivated,  and  yet  vigor- 
ous, manly  mind,  to  speak  and  WTite  concisely. 

*  The  reader  who  is  acquainted  with  Mr.  Niebuhr's  History 
of  Rome  will  recollect  the  634th  note  of  vol.  I.  on  page  218  & 
seq.  in  the  Eng-hsh  translation,  where  he  gives  two  inscriptions, 
and  then  adds  :  "  I  have  softened  the  rude  spelhng,  and  have 
even  abstained  from  marking  that  the  final  s  in  prognatus, 
quoius,  and  the  final  m  in  Taurasiam,  Cesaunaniy  Akriam,  optu- 
mum,  and  omnem,  were  not  pronounced,"  &c. 


140 


REMINISCENCES 


Pronunciation  of  the  Latin. 

[On  my  question,  which  of  the  different  ways  of 
pronouncing  Latin  he  thought  best,  he  said  that  he 
had  adopted  the  Italian  pronunciation.  On  my  far- 
ther question,  why  ?  he  said:] 

I  have  a  number  of  reasons ;  but  in  fact  the 
"  counter  question,  Why  should  we  not  adopt  the 
Italian  pronunciation  ?  would  be  a  perfectly  good 
answer.  As  to  the  pronunciation  of  the  c,  it  is  clear 
that  the  Romans  did  not  pronounce  it  in  the  German 
way,  Tsitse7'o;  this  is  altogether  an  uncouth  nor- 
thern sound.  To  pronounce  it  like  Sisero,  (with 
hard  s,)  is  equally  wrong:  no  inscription  or  other 
trace  induces  us  to  believe  that  the  Romans  used  c 
as  equivalent  to  s.  Besides,  if  we  see  that  each  na- 
tion pronounces  Latin  according  to  the  pronuncia- 
tion of  the  vernacular  tongue,  it  is  preposterous  to 
maintain  that  one  or  the  other  is  the  correct  pronun- 
ciation, except  the  pronunciation  of  the  Italian  it- 
self. That  the  g  was  not  pronounced  hard  as  the 
German,*  seems  clear  from  the  fact  that  most  na- 
tions pronounce  it  soft.  On  the  whole,  Latin  reads 
much  better  in  the  Italian  way  ;  and  I  think  many 


The  German  g  is  pronounced  like  the  English  in  give. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  141 

passages  of  the  poets  require  this  pronunciation  to 
receive  their  full  value.  People  ought  to  agree  to 
adopt  this  pronunciation^  for  it  is  too  ridiculous  to 
find  the  same  language  pronounced  differently  in 
every  country,  and  subjected  to  all  the  caprices  of 
the  various  idioms.  The  Spaniards  sometimes  claim 
to  be,  by  way  of  tradition,  in  possession  of  the  true 
Roman  pronunciation.  It  is  equally  preposterous, 
that  they  whose  language  is  so  much  more  mixed, 
and  whose  country  was  never  more  than  a  province, 
should  have  retained  a  better  pronunciation  than  the 
people  of  the  mother  country!  Italian  is  still,  in  a 
degree,  a  Latin  dialect. 


Orthography. 

[I  asked  him  how  he  wrote  a  certain  word  ;  he 
answered  the  question,  and  then  said :] 

In  general,  I  always  found  those  who  occupy 
themselves  chiefly  with  orthography,  small  minds. 
Orthography  is  sometimes  not  unimportant;  but  small 
people  only  make  a  business  of  it,  and  propose  the 
different  changes.* 

•  I  need  hardly  observe  that  Mr.  Niebuhr  meant  to  express 


142 


REMINISCENCES 


The  Latin  word  OhscenusP 

[I  observed  to  Mr.  Niebuhr  how  ugly  the  Nea- 
politan women  seemed  to  me.    He  said:] 

It  is  very  possible,  indeed,  that  obscemis,  ugly, 
is  derived  from  Opscus,  Oscus,  like  the  Oscans," 
always  an  ugly  race.  The  Romans  may  originally 
have  used  the  word  Oscan,  signifying  the  early  and 
uncouth  inhabitants,  somewhat  as  villain  is  used  in 
English,  meaning  originally  nothing  but  a  villager, 
or  as  the  German  WelscJie  (originally  strangers) 
was  used  for  Italians,  and  thence  for  the  faithless, 
full  of  tricks.* 

his  little  regard  for  those  who  only  think  they  are  engaged  in 
most  important  occupations  when  they  propose  new  ways  of 
writing,  &c. ;  for  a  man  like  him  would  have  considered  igno- 
rance in  the  orthography  of  a  language  as  unfavourable  as  any 
other  kind  of  ignorance. 

*  Verrius  apud  Fest.  in  Oscum  derives  the  word  obscenus  from 
Opscus  indeed,  but  because  the  Osci  or  Opsci  turpi  consuetudine 
olim  lahorasse  dicuntur;  but  not  as  equivalent  to  ugly,  uncouth, 
and  hence  inauspicious,  &c. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


143 


Ferdinand  IV.  of  Naples. 

[When  we  read  the  inscription  on  the  pedestal  of 
the  statue  of  King  Ferdinand  IV.  in  the  Stiidii  at 
Naples,  which  is  about  as  follows — Ferdinando 
IV.  augusto,  &c.  religionis  et  securitatis  publicae 
Protectori  invicto/'  &c.  he  shrugged  his  shoulders, 
and  said  :] 

Well  indeed  !  invictus !  He  was  driven  three 
times  out  of  his  capital! 


St.  Francis. 

[We  were  on  our  way  home  from  the  cathedral 
of  Assissi,  the  chief  church  of  the  Franciscans, — for 
in  Assissi  their  saint  was  born,  and  on  the  spot 
where  now  stands  that  beautiful  minister  he  expe- 
rienced his  first  impulse  to  devotion, — when  Mr. 
Niebuhr  said:] 

St.  Francis  was  a  great  man.  St.  Benedict  had 
just  laboured  for  the  moral  elevation  of  the  higher 
classes.  It  was  a  necessary  consequence  of  his  sys- 
tem. The  intention  of  St.  Francis  was  to  labour 
for  the  poorest  and  meanest.     Much  that  now  ap- 


144 


REMINISCENCES 


pears  extravagant  may  not  have  been  so  in  his  time; 
much  may  have  been  exaggerated  afterwards,  and 
some  points  in  his  character  may  have  been  actually 
extravagant.  Where  is  the  great  man  who  has  not 
his  monomania  ?  Some  of  his  miracles  are  invented, 
many  may  be  true.  I  think  they  can  be  accounted 
for  by  implicit  faith,  which  he  commanded  and  re- 
quired. That  he  could  find,  when  but  a  young  man 
so  many  and  such  ardent  followers^  and  draw  up 
the  rules  of  his  order,  so  judicious  for  his  age  and 
his  particular  object,  sufficiently  shows  tliat  he  was 
an  extraordinary  man.  The  Evangelium  sine 
glossa  is  remarkable  indeed,  and,  more  than  that,  is 
great,  far  in  advance  of  his  age.  When  dialectics 
surrounded  him  everywhere,  and  the  interpretations 
of  the  Bible  were  held  far  superior  to  the  book  itself, 
he  penetrated  all  these  mazes,  and  required  the  plain 
Gospel.  He  wanted  no  property  but  such  as  the 
brethren  could  cultivate.  This,  however,  changed 
immediately  after  his  death.  At  the  same  time 
rose  the  order  of  the  Dominicans, — an  order  which 
received  even  from  its  very  founder  the  stamp  of 
persecution,  and  has  gone  on  with  blood  and  murder 
through  the  succeeding  centuries.  It  has  frequently 
happened,  indeed,  that  the  Franciscans  protected 
where  the  Dominicans  persecuted. 

[I  was  glad  to  hear  this  opinion  from  his  lips, 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


145 


and  told  him  how  much  I  admired  the  Morning 
Hymn  of  St.  Francis.  I  was  only  sorry  that  the 
followers  of  these  great  men  should  immediately  ex- 
ceed the  bounds  of  their  veneration,  and  warp  it  by 
superstition,  sometimes  of  repulsive  grossness  ;  for, 
said  I,  a  monk,  with  whom  I  walked  over  the  con- 
vent of  St.  Francis  on  the  Capitoline  Hill,  spoke  of 
his  patron  saint  as  if  he  were  at  least  equal  to  Christ, 
telling  me  some^of  the  most  absurd  miracles.  And 
this,  I  continued,  reminds  me  of  the  nurse  in  the 

family  of  Mr.   ,  (then  chaplain  of  the  Prussian 

legation,)  who  one  day  said  :  "  It  is  a  great  pity  the 
Virgin  Mary  is  not  God  ;  it  would  be  much  better 
for  us,  poor  sinners,  than  it  is  now  when  God  is 
God."] 

St.  Francis,  said  Mr.  Niebuhr,  was,  about  a  hun- 
dred years  after  his  death,  actually  believed  by 
many  to  have  been  the  Paracletus,  or  Comforter. 
No  saint  was  ever  more  universally  honoured. 


Mr.  Pertz. 

I  v/rite  legibly,  and  not  slowly,  and  I  do  not 
work  slowly  ;  but  I  know  of  no  person  who  can  at 
all  be  compared,  with  regard  to  rapidity  of  working, 

13 


146  REMINISCENCES 

to  Mr.  Pertz.*  He  reads  manuscripts  with  discri- 
minating judgment,  and  makes  extracts  more  quick- 
ly than  others  could  merely  copy.  This  kind  of 
rapidity  is  very  important  to  those  engaged  at  all 
in  studies  like  ours;  and  yet  it  is  a  thing  quite  un- 
connected with  the  other  requisites  of  a  thorough 
savant. 


Mr.  JSiebuhr^s  knowledge  of  French. 

I  have  read  a  great  deal  of  French,  not  only  the 
first-rate  writers,  but  all  the  second  and  third-rate 
too.    I  believe  I  write  French  correctly. 

*  Henry  Georg-e  Pertz,  royal  librarian  and  keeper  of  the  ar- 
chives at  Hanover,  made  himself  known  in  1819  by  his  History 
of  the  Merovingian  Major  Domus.  The  Society  for  Promoting 
the  Knowledge  of  Early  German  Histoiy,  (Societas  pro  aperi- 
endis  fontibus  rerum  Germanicarum  medii  asvi,)  sent  him  to  Italy, 
where  he  collected  most  valuable  materials  for  German  history, 
from  the  year  1821  to  1823.  The  Society  published  his  learn- 
ed spoils  in  the  fifth  volume  of  its  "Archives."  In  the  years 
1826  and  1829  he  published  two  volumes  folio,  Monumenta  Ger- 
manise Historka.  His  newest  work  is  an  edition  of  Eginhard. 
Mr.  Pertz  is  at  the  same  time  editor  of  the  Hanoverian  Gazette. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


147 


Mistakes  of  the  Cortes. 


The  Cortes  committed  several  fatal  blunders. 
They  sold  the  commons.  Many  of  the  poor  moun- 
taineers, however,  had  nothing  in  the  whole  world 
but  their  share  in  the  commons  ;  they  have  thus 
become  poor  to  starvation,  and  therefore  violent 
Royalists.  In  the  same  manner  they  deprived  the 
guards  of  their  privileges.  Such  a  body  may  be 
disbanded  ;  but  to  let  it  exist,  and  yet  injure  it — 
deprive  it_of  old  privileges,  is  making  so  many 
armed  enemies  of  them. 


Literary  power  of  Paris. 


The  literary  dictatorship  of  Paris  over  PVance 
has  had  some  good,  but  also  many  fatal  conse- 
quences. The  best  book  published  in  Marseilles 
or  Bourdeaux  is  hardly  mentioned.  C^est  publie 
dans  la  province,  is  enough  to  consign  the  book  at 
once  to  oblivion.  It  has  produced  uniformity,  and 
therefore  guarded  in  a  degree  against  a  certain  lite- 
rary licentiousness  ;  but  it  has  also  produced  tyranny 
in  a  sphere  where  tyranny  is  least  supportable. 


148 


REMINISCENCES 


Machiavelli — Segretario  Fiorentino. 

[We  spoke  of  Machiavelli,  and  I  observed  how 
curious  it  was  that  he  is  so  often  styled  //  Segreta- 
rio ;  which  seemed  to  me  to  agree  little  with  the 
Italian  custom  generally  followed.]* 

Don't  you  know  the  reason  ?  Mr.  Niebuhr  re- 
plied. The  censorship  prohibited  the  "  Prince" 
and  some  other  works  of  Machiavelli ;  hence  it  was 
prohibited  to  quote  him,  or,  in  fact,  to  print  his 
name  by  way  of  citation  ;  but  the  substitution  of 
//  Segretario  Fiorentino  for  his  name  was  not 
objected  to.  Thus,  probably,  this  appellation  be- 
came so  common. 

*  Though  the  Italians  are  most  profuse  hi  bestowing  titles  like 
ecctlUnza^  which,  in  fact,  any  person  with  a  whole  coat  may 
claim,  they  do  not  make  much  use  of  such  titles  as  the  above.  In 
addressing  persons,  customs  still  exist  in  Italy,  which  other 
nations  have  long  passed  by.  The  baptismal  name,  with  the 
preceding  signer,  is  continually  used  instead  of  the  family 
name  ;  and  the  charm  with  which  so  many  remember  Italy,  is 
probably  owing,  in  part,  to  the  peculiar  feeling  we  have  when 
we  are  all  at  once  called  by  the  name  of  our  childhood,  after 
having  nearly  forgotten  that  such  is  our  name. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


149 


Italian  Versions  of  the  Bible. 

Diodati's  Italian  Bible*  is  an  excellent  translation  : 
some  parts  are  most  beautiful ;  but  it  is  by  a  heretic. 
The  approved  translation  occupies,  with  all  the  ex- 
planations and  interpretations,  such  a  large  number 
of  volumes,  that  few  Italians  have  it:  hence  the 
reading  of  the  Bible  in  the  Italian  tongue  is  virtually 
prohibited. 


Liberty  of  the  Press. 

Perfect  liberty  of  the  press  might  be  given  as  the 
highest  reward  to  the  best  citizens.  The  state  has 
so  little  to  reward  with.  What  is  an  order  !  What 
sensible  man  would  give  anything  for  such  a  thing! — 
except  that  the  not  receiving  it  may  be  a  positive 
neglect  or  injury.  To  take  absolute  liberty  of  the 
press  from  men  who  are  nevertheless  appointed  to 
teach  youth  in  universities,  is  very  inconsistent. 

[I  observed,  that  if  the  state  should  always  have 
to  decide  who  is  w^orthy  of  enjoying  the  liberty  of 
the  press,  it  would  be  no  great  liberty  after  all.] 

*  La  Sacra  Bibbia,  tradotta  in  lingua  Italiana  da  Giovanni 
Diodati,  di  nation  Luchese,  1640.    Stampata  a  Geneva. 
13* 


150 


REMINISCENCES 


Perhaps  so,  he  answered  ;  but  it  might  be  some- 
what like  a  scientific  peerage,  never,  or  not  easily, 
to  be  taken  away. 

[The  idea,  undigested  and  impracticable  as  it  was, 
not  to  view  it  from  a  higher  point — that  of  right, 
was  certainly  very  German ;  inasmuch  as  the 
writing  of  books  is  drawn  here  within  the  sphere 
of  political  privileges,  and  therefore  supposed  to  be 
very  common  throughout  the  nation  ;  which  in  fact, 
it  is.] 


JiUxander  Hamilton. 

Alexander  Hamilton  was  one  of  the  most  power- 
ful minds  of  modern  times.  He  had  resources 
within  him  such  as  none  of  his  contemporaries 
had. 


Divisibility  of  Land. 

It  is  the  duty  of  governments  to  prevent  real 
estates  from  being  divided  into  such  small  portions 
that  they  become  utterly  useless  to  the  cultivator. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  151 

Such  a  law  existed  in  the  Ditmarsian  republic  ;  and 
the  constitution  of  Sweden  contained  a  provision  to 
the  same  effect. 

[I  said  that  the  country  around  Jena  proved  the 
truth  of  his  observation  perhaps  more  than  any  other 
country.  Since  then  I  have  received  a  small  publi- 
cation— Report  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  on 
the  Parcelling  of  Farms  and  Cutting-up  of  Estates 
in  the  Province  of  Westphalia/'  1824,  by  Mr.  Von 
Vincke,  high-president  of  that  province.  The 
author  of  this  official  paper  is  the  same  Mr.  Von 
Vincke  who  is  mentioned  in  a  note  at  the  beginning 
as  the  author  of  a  work  on  the  Domestic  Administra- 
tion of  England,  edited  by  Mr.  Niebuhr.  The 
pamphlet  I  have  just  mentioned  states  the  fact  that 
law-suits  have  been  brought  into  the  courts  on  the 
Rhine  for  half  a  square  foot  of  land.  Its  object  is, 
to  answer  the  three  questions  proposed  by  the  minis- 
ter of  the  interior,  to  whom  the  Report  is  directed: 

1.  What  is  to  be  adopted  as  the  minimum  of  a 
farm?* 

2.  What  laws  are  requisite  with  reference  to 
inheritance,  forced  sales,  &c. 

3.  Is  a  limitation  of  mortgaging  estates  and  in- 

*  The  German  is  spannfaehige  Bauernhoft  which  means  farms 
capable  of  keeping  a  team,  and  doing  consequently  the  services 
enjoined  upon  these  farms. 


152 


REMINISCENCES 


debting  them  advisable,  or  how  may  it  be  prevent- 
ed by  general  measures? 

The  work,  though  but  a  pamphlet  of  fifty-two 
pages,  is  of  great  interest,  in  a  variety  of  respects, 
to  the  political  economist;  and  it  has  been  mention- 
ed here  so  fully  with  a  view  to  direct  attention  to  it, 
as  it  might  otherwise  be  easily  overlooked.] 


Last  Wills  made  in  Foreign  Countries. 

A  Prussian  has  to  make  his  last  will  in  Rome, 
according  to  Roman  laws.  The  Prussian  minister 
has  not  the  power  of  an  attorney*  for  these  cases. 
He  ought  to  have  it;  for  this  want  of  proper  power 
may  expose  the  heirs  of  a  Prussian  subject  to  very 
great  inconvenience. 


Truly  great  things. 

Everything  truly  great,  where  mind  acts  upon 
mind,  proceeds  from  the  individual;  tyranny  or 
grossness  acts  by  masses. 

*  Justiz-Commissarius,  (commissary  of  justice,)  an  officer 
peculiar  to  the  Prussian  hierarchy  of  justice,  though,  on  the 
whole,  corresponding  to  our  consellors  and  attorneys  at  law. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


153 


Carnot, 

Carnot  invented  new  tactics,  and  showed  how  to 
fight  and  conquer  with  them.  While  he  was  en- 
gaged in  making  the  giant-plans  for  the  five  armies, 
he  wrote  a  mathematical  work  of  the  highest  charac- 
ter, and  composed  at  the  same  time  some  very 
agreeable  little  poems.  He  was  a  mighty  genius  in- 
deed ! 


Valez. 

Valez  is  perhaps  one  of  the  best  men  that  appear- 
ed in  the  Spanish  revolution. 


General  Vaudoncourt. 

Guillaume  de  Vaudoncourt*  is  one  of  the  best  in- 

*  General  de  Vaudoncourt  was  born  in  Vienna,  Austria,  of 
French  parents,  in  1772;  educated  in  Berlin;  and  went  in  1786 


154 


REMINISCENCES 


formed  officers  that  ever  have  written.  I  esteem 
his  work  on  Hannibal's  Campaigns  very  highly. 
His  inquiries  into  the  precise  route  which  Hannibal 
took  are  masterly. 


Klopstock. 

[Our  conversation  had  turned  upon  Klopstock, 
whom  Mr.  Niebuhr  had  seen  very  frequently 
when  in  Hamburgh:  in  fact,  he  spent  a  great  part 
of  the  day,  at  least  three  times  a  week,  for  three 
months,  with  that  poet.  I  collected  the  following 
by  my  various  questions  :] 

to  France.  He  entered  the  French  army  in  1791,  and  gradual- 
ly rose  to  the  grade  of  general.  He  served  with  great  distinc- 
tion in  various  campaigns  of  Napoleon,  who  made  use  of  his 
talents  also  in  political  affairs.  His  missions  were  various. 
Wherever  he  was  sent  by  the  emperor,  he  beliaved  so  honour- 
ably, (and  abstained  so  entirely  from  obtaining  riches,)  that  he 
was  well  received  in  Germany  when  he  had  to  leave  France 
after  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons.  He  has  written  nume- 
rous works,  some  of  which  appeared  first  in  London.  The  one 
alluded  to  by  Mr.  Niebuhr  is,  Histoire  des  Campagnes  d'An- 
nibal  en  Italic,"  3  vols.  4to,  with  an  atlas,  Milan,  1812. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  155 

Klopstock  used  to  like  me:  he  called  me  thou.'* 
When  a  young  man  of  twenty-six,  he  visited 
Switzerland,  after  having  published  the  first  cantos 
of  his  Messiah: — his  journey  was  a  real  triumphal 
march.  Old  and  young,  men,  women,  and  children, 
met  him.  Klopstock  did  not  like  to  speak  of  his 
Messiah  ;  he  was  not  satisfied  with  the  poem.  His 
religious  views  had  also  undergone  some  change. 
He  was  usually  content  with  a  general  impression 
of  a  subject;  he  did  not  care  much  for  entering  into 
details.  His  knowledge  of  Latin  was  not  deep;  I 
assisted  him  in  his  grammatical  inquiries  with  re- 
spect to  this  language.  He  was  indolent,  in  spite  of 
his  love  of  skating,  and  slovenly.  You  know,  of 
course,  the  fact,  that  some  people  censure  his  skating 
as  unbecoming  the  bard  of  the  Messiah.  He  was 
always  in  good  health. 


Hoj'ace. 

I 

However,  Mr.Niebuhr  said  to  me,when  I  had  once 
asked  his  opinion  of  Horace,  and  frankly  expressed 

*  The  pronoun  tJiou  is  used  in  Germany  still  more  frequently 
than  in  France,  as  a  mark  of  intimacy  or  affection. 


156 


REMINISCENCES 


my  not  relishing  him  so  much  as  most  people  seem- 
ed or  pretended  to  do  ; — However,  Horace  was  a 
great  man*  after  all.  In  his  scrmones  you  will  find 
the  deep  and  intense  grief  he  felt  for  the  state  of 
the  times,  though  externally  he  contrived  to  smile  at 
it;  yet  it  is  a  bitter  smile.  Except  his  odes,  Ho- 
race ought  never  to  be  read  in  schools,  for  it  re- 
quires extensive  experience  in  real  life  to  understand 
him. 

*  Mr.  Kiebuhr  spoke  German,  in  which  the  expression  great 
man  is  used  to  signify  much  more  than  in  English.  In  the 
United  States  particularly,  this  high  epithet  signifies  very  fre- 
quently nothing  more  than  highly-gifted^  a  man  of  rare  talents. — 
I  have  no  doubt,  therefore,  that  Mr.  Niebuhr  used  this  expres- 
sion by  way  of  conversational  extravagance  ;  for  he  cannot  be 
called  great,  who,  in  a  time  like  his,  only  sees  the  misery.  A 
man  may  have  a  great  mind,  a  great  soul ;  but  a  great  man  must 
act,  and  in  a  way  that  influences  posterity,  creating  something 
new.  In  this  sense  was  Dante  not  only  a  great  poet,  but  a  great 
man.  This  brief  disquisition  reminds  me  of  a  saying  of  Schiller, 
which  I  may  not  have  another  equally  convenient  opportunity 
to  relate,  and  which  the  reader  will  hear  with  pleasure.  The 
late  Professor  Pfaff,  In  Halle,  told  me  that  Schiller  conversing 
with  him  on  Herder  and  Goethe,  said  "Herder  is  a  siren ;  Goethe 
is  a  great  man."  That  Schiller  meant  here  a  Platonic  siren, 
making  the  music  of  the  spheres,  and  not  tlie  decoying  Homeric 
s  irens,  seems  clear. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


157 


Ignatius  Potocki. 

Ignatius  Potocki*  is  one  of  the  finest  characters^ 
perhaps  the  finest  of  all,  in  the  unhappy  history  of 
Poland  :  one  can  dwell  with  real  pleasure  on  him. 


The  Remains  of  Scipio. 

When  in  17S0,  under  Pius  VI. — an  age  which 
has  been  called  the  modern  Augustan  age, — the  se- 
pulchres of  the  Scipios  were  discovered,  learned 
Vandalism  dragged  forth  the  sarcophagi, — for  it  was 
the  custom  of  the  Scipios  to  inter  their  dead, — took 
out  the  remains,  and  would  have  thrown  them  on 
the  field,  when,  in  charity,  they  were  bought  and 
taken  to  Padua,  where  they  are  buried. 


Shakspeare  early  transplanted  to  Germany. 

Those  who  lately  revived  German  literature — I 
mean  Klopstock  and  the  contributors  to  the  Bremen 

*  Count  Ignatius  Potocki,  cousin  to  Count  Anthony  Potocki, 
was  the  very  counterpart  to  the  latter,  who  betrayed  his  coun- 
try to  Russia.  Ignatius  was  one  of  those  Poles  who  drew  up  the 
ever  memorable  constitution  of  May  3rd,  1751.  He  was  born 
in  1751. 

14 


158  REMINISCENCES 

Wochenblatt — were  at  first  unacquainted  with 
Shakspeare  ;  I  mean,  they  had  not  properly  stu- 
died the  great  poet,  and  were  not  then  influenced 
by  him.  But  a  strolling  company  in  the  north^  of 
Germany  performed  some  of  his  pieces,  for  instance 
Hamlet,  soon  after  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  How 
much  these  pieces  were  mutilated  and  tortured  is 
another  question  ;  perhaps  they  were  not  much  more 
changed  than  they  are  at  present  on  the  English 
stage.* 


•Anticipating  Pardons. 

When  the  Ionian  Islands  were  under  the  power 
of  Venice,  pardons  could  be  obtained  from  the  go- 
vernor for  crimes  not  yet  committed.  Of  course,  a 
high  price  was  asked.  The  same,  1  think,  was  done 
sometimes  in  the  Grisons.  It  was  in  theory  not 
worse  than  the  anticipating  indulgences,  which  were 
sold  in  Germany,  to  the  scandal  of  every  man  who 
had  the  slightest  feeling  of  morality. 

*  A  g-entleman  who  has  filled  the  highest  station  in  the  United 
States,  and  resided  in  the  early  part  of  this  century  in  an  of- 
ficial cai)acity  in  Berlin,  said  once  to  the  writer,  that  the  only 
place  where  he  had  seen  the  genuine  Shakspeare  had  been  at 
Berlin  ;  alluding  to  the  uncurtailed  and  unchanged  state  in 
which  the  dramas  of  that  poet  were  performed  in  the  Prussian 
capital. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


159 


Servitude  never  existed  in  Asia, 

Serfs,  or  bondsmen  attached  to  the  soil,*  were 
unknown  in  Asia  even  in  the  early  periods ;  but 
the  Hellenic  tribes  had  this  institution.  The  mo- 
dern Greeks  were  never  bondsmen,  properly  speak- 
ing ;  nay,  the  Turks  have  perhaps  abolished  the  in- 
stitution in  Moldavia  and  Wallachia. 


Protestants  in  Turkey. 

Innumerable  Protestants  fled  from  x\ustria  pre- 
vious to  the  reign  of  Joseph  II.,  into  Turkey,  and 
founded  large  villages. 


Tolerance  of  the  Mufti. 

The  last  Mufti  but  one  was  ordered  to  si  gnthe 
permission  of  all  Musselmen  to  slaughter  the  Greeks. 
He  proved  from  the  Koran  that  he  could  not  do  it. 
and  was  banished  to  Rhodes. 

*  The  German  word  is  Leibeigner  (whose  body  is  owned). 
Perhaps  I  ought  have  translated  it  by  villain^  but  this  again  has 
a  distinct  EngUsh  meaning. 


160 


REMINISCENCES 


Turkish  Faithfulness. 

When  Frederick  II.  sought  at  all  costs  to  induce 
the  Turks  to  make  war  against  the  Russians,  he  was 
answered,  Canst  thou  make  twenty-five  years  of 
twenty?"  An  armistice  existed  between  Russia  and 
Turkey,  which  had  still  five  years  to  run. 


Herodotus. 

It  is  impossible  to  find  a  more  truth-loving  man 
than  Herodotus,  and  yet  he  has  reported  several 
things  which  are  not  true. 


The  Emperors  Maximilian  and  Ferdinand. — Gustavm 
Molphus. — Lutherans  and  Calvinists. 

You  cannot  call  Maximilian  neutral  ;  he  was 
more  than  neutral.  He  wished  the  chalice  to  be 
given  to  the  laymen,  and  tried  to  induce  the  pope 
to  allow  priests  to  marry  :  the  greater  part  of  his 
counsellors  were  Protestants.  This  is,  indeed,  more 
than  merely  neutral.    But  Ferdinand  was  dark. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  161 

bigoted,  cruel,  and  zealous.  At  his  court  in  Graetz 
nothing  but  Spanish  was  spoken.  In  this  respect, 
too,  Germany  would  have  gained  much  had  Gusta- 
vus  lived  to  ascend  the  imperial  throne.  Gustavus 
had  an  essentially  German  education.  He  spoke 
and  wrote  German  freely  ;  Ferdinand  did  not. 
Gustavus,  from  a  Teutonic  tribe,  with  his  education, 
his  feelings  and  dispositions,  v/as  more  a  German 
than  Ferdinand,  who  was  a  Spaniard  in  feeling. 
Had  Gustavus  ascended  the  German  throne,  he 
would  soon  have  been  considered  a  German  by  the 
whole  country,  disposed  as  it  was  for  the  Reforma- 
tion. But  he  fell ;  the  Lutherans  and  Calvinists 
abandoned  each  other;  and  after  Luther  there  was 
no  great  man  among  the  Protestants.  As  it  always 
has  been  in  Germany,  no  plan-maker  was  to  be 
found,  or,  which  amounts  to  the  same  thing,  every 
one  was  a  plan-maker. 


Peasant  War, 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  peasants  in  the  Pea- 
sant War  (of  Germany)  had  originally  the  right  on 
their  side,  but  it  could  lead  to  nothing. 

14* 


162 


REMINISCENCES 


Wealth  in  Germany  before  the  Thirty  Years' 
War, 

Nowhere  in  Germany  has  the  wealth  returned 
which  existed  before  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  The 
change  is  almost  incredible.  But  the  situation  of 
the  peasant  is  now  much  better  than  at  that  period. 
Wherever  the  free  imperial  cities  ruled,  the  pea- 
sant was  shockingly  tyrannized  over. 


Proportion  of  the  Dead  in  War. 

The  proportion  of  the  dead  to  the  wounded,  was, 
in  the  Seven  Years'  War,  as  one  to  three;  in  the 
campaign  of  1813  as  one  to  five.  There  is  more 
manoeuvring  now  than  formerly. 


Irrigation  and  Cultivation  of  the  Campagna 
Eomana. 

If  the  ancient  Roman  Campagna  could  be  irrigat- 
ed as  in  ancient  times,  the  country  would  be  found 
fertile,  as  all  Italian  land  is  which  is  watered.  At 
present  it  is  uncultivated,  and  produces  nothing  but 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  163 

malaria.  Near  Tivoli,  for  example,  there  is  water 
enough.  The  labour  of  the  men  who  come  from 
Ancona  would  be  too  dear;  and  there  are  none  here, 
on  account  of  the  malaria  and  fever.  The  ditches 
and  sluices  might  be  made,  and  then  the  land  be  let 
on  hereditary  leases.  The  farmers  might  derive  great 
advantage  over  and  above  the  rent;  and  heaUh,  too, 
would  be  restored  to  the  Campagna. 


Introduction  of  the  Musket  into  European 
Annies. 


Lances,  pikes,  battle-clubs,  &c.  were  yet  quite  in 
use  in  the  beginning  of  the  war  of  the  Spanish  suc- 
cession, much  more  than  the  musket.  But  the  early 
periods  of  the  war  were  so  murderous  that  the  troops 
on  both  sides  soon  came  to  consist  of  young  men. 
Perhaps  they  did  not  understand  handling  the  lances 
and  pikes,  and  this  accelerated  the  adoption  of  gun- 
powder; for  these  weapons  require  m.ore  practice 
than  the  musket.  How  much  were  the  Roman  sol- 
diers drilled  compared  to  ours! 


164 


REMINISCENCES 


Parliamentary  regulations  of  the  Spanish 
Cortes. 

The  regulations  of  the  Spanish  Cortes  deserve 
the  greatest  credit,  while  those  of  the  French  Cham- 
ber are  bad.  These  parliamentary  regulations  are 
of  the  greatest  importance,  and  very  difficult  to  be 
drawn  up  where  a  deliberative  assembly  all  at  once 
springs  into  existence,  and  has  not  grown  up  gra- 
dually as  the  British  parliament.  The  speaker  of 
the  Cortes  has  to  sum  up  the  arguments  on  both 
sides  :  [which  seems  to  be  the  most  inconsistent  and 
useless  provision  imaginable,  much  as  the  want  of 
the  judge's  summing  up  to  the  jury  in  the  courts  of 
the  southern  states  in  the  Union  is  to  be  regretted.] 


Spanish  Character, 

The  Spanish  have  always  shown  this  peculiarity, 
that,  taken  singly,  there  are  many  noble,  nay,  great 
men  among  them,  but  they  do  not  know  how  to  act 
together.  Generals  Grollmann,  Liitzow,  and  Dohna,  • 
who  served  among  them  against  the  French,  say 
they  are  very  poor  in  open  battle;  one  never  trusts 
the  other.     They  used  to  say,     We  are  willing 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  165 

enough  to  fight,  but  our  neighbouring  regiment  will 
not;"  and  thus  they  fled,  but  returned  the  next  day. 
Yet  none  endure  more  or  fight  better  in  dispersed 
bands.  Under  English  officers,  to  whom  they  grant- 
ed perhaps  that  confidence  which  they  did  not  feel 
in  one  another,  they  fought  better.  It  was  the  same 
when  they  fought  against  the  Romans  ;  in  bands 
alone  did  they  fight  well.  Under  Carthaginian  offi- 
cers they  made  good  soldiers. 

Their  jurists  are  without  system. 

As  to  their  manners  and  morals,  especially  in 
Madrid,  many  of  my  friends  who  know  them  well 
by  personal  observation,  have  said,  ^'  Read  Gil  Bias  ; 
the  Spaniards  are  the  same  still." 


Sculpture  in  Rome, 

About  the  year  1300,  there  were  but  a  few  statues 
above  the  ground  in  Rome; — the  Neptune  in  the 
Capitol,  Marcus  Aurelius,  the  two  Gladiators,  and  a 
few  others.  Everything  else  above  the  surface  of 
^the  earth  had  been  burnt  for  lime.  It  is  very  fortu- 
nate that  Rome  was  so  depopulated,  or  it  would  have 
shared  the  fate  of  Bologna.  An  old  writer  says  of 
one  of  the  walls  of  the  Lateran,  that  it  was  built  of 
statues.    Imagine,  then,  what  immense  treasures  of 


1 66  REMINISCENCES 

the  fine  arts  the  ancients  must  have  brought  together 
in  Rome  ;  for  nearly  all  we  see  and  admire  has  been 
dug  out  of  the  ground,  and  is  but  the  gleaning.  It 
surpasses  all  our  conception.  There  existed  in  the 
middle  ages  a  little  guide-book  for  pilgrims  who 
went  to  Rome,  in  which  the  few  statues  then  to  be 
seen  are  explained  in  the  most  naive  way.  Many 
antiques  represented  saints,  of  course. 


Caesar.  — Mirabeaii. — Brutus.  —  Cato. 

Caesar  was  a  mighty  but  unbridled  character,* 
like  Mirabeau.  It  is  impossible  to  imagine  Caesar 
great  enough.  The  good  abandoned  him;  with 
whom  could  he  associate,  or  on  whom  could  he  rest 
his  lever  except  on  the  bad?  Such  a  man  could  not 
possibly  be  at  rest,  nor  could  he  remain  alone. 

I  have  no  doubt  but  that  it  would  have  been  pos- 
sible to  approach  Csesar  with  entire  confidence  after 
he  had  firmly  established  himself. 

The  act  of  Brutus  was  just:  there  cannot  be  a 
doubt  about  this;  for  a  man  who  does  in  a  republic 
what  Caesar  did,  stands  without  the  law  of  this  re- 
public. He  had  forfeited  his  life  according  to  the 
laws  of  his  state.  It  cannot  be  otherwise.  Men  who 


*  Caesar  war  eine  unbdndige  JYatur,  were  Mr.  Niebuhr's  words. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


167 


bring  a  new  time  must  act  against  the  laws  belonging 
to  the  past.  Times  would  not  have  been  so  bad 
under  Caesar  as  they  grew  after  his  death. 

Brutus  was,  undoubtedly,  a  pure,  noble  soul ;  but 
times  had  changed. 

Cato  died  at  the  right  moment ;  for,  however 
things  might  have  turned  out,  no  sphere  would  have 
opened  itself  for  him  after  the  battle  of  Actium. 


Extraction  of  Pope  Pius  VII, 

[A  nobleman  said,  probably  forgetting  that  Mr. 
Niebuhr  himself  was  not  descended  of  a  noble  fami- 
ly, ^'  I  understand  the  present  pope  is  not  even  a 
man  of  family. ^'J"^ 

Oh,  as  for  that,  replied  Mr.  Niebuhr  with  a  smile, 
I  have  been  told  that  Christ  himself  was  not  a  man 
of  family  ;  and  St.  Peter,  if  1  recollect  well,  was  but 
of  very  vulgar  origin.  Here  in  Rome  we  don't  mind 
these  things. 

*  Von  Famelie  were  the  words  of  the  g-entleman. 


168 


REMINISCENCES 


Party  Spirit. 

A  short  time  ago  I  read  in  a  Spanish  ministerial 
paper,  that  on  a  certain  occasion,  in  Spanish  Ame- 
rica, the  infamous  cry  of  Viva  la  Patria  had  been 
heard.  Such  are  the  extremes  to  which  party  spirit 
leads.  A  man  who  was  not  a  rake,  under  Charles 
II.,  had  no  hope  to  be  considered  loyal.  There  is 
not  a  virtue,  or  anything  good  in  the  whole  world, 
that  has  not,  at  some  period  or  other,  brought  suspi- 
cion, or  even  ruin,  on  a  man. 


History  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

A  satisfactory  history  of  the  middle  ages  can  only 
be  founded  on  a  thorough  history  of  villainage.* 


The  Teutonic  Order. 

The  conquest  which  does  much  honour  to  the 
Germans,  perhaps  the  only  one  that  does,  is  that  of 
Prussia  by  the  Teutonic  Order.  They  injured  no- 
thing, founded  cities,  and  the  country  flourished. 

*  Leibeigenschaft. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  169 

The  same  cannot  be  said  of  the  conquests  made  by 
the  Knights  of  the  Sword. 


Croatians. 
The  Croatians  were  never  serfs. 


Hercules, 

I  find  that  Marcus  is  very  much  attracted  by  the 
story  of  Hercules.  There  runs  a  good-naturedness 
through  the  whole  character  of  that  hero  which  has 
great  charms  for  a  child. 


Flemming.  —  Opitz.  — Logan. — Scultetus, 

Flemming,  and,  next  to  him,  Opitz  and  Logan — 
how  great  they  are  !  At  any  other  time  they  would 
have  created  master-works  which  would  have  lasted 
for  ever  after.  But  their  century  was  wanting  in 
everything, — I  mean  in  Germany  ;  they  could  do 
nothing.  There  is  a  poem  still  extant,  called  "  The 
Easter  Trumpet  of  Triumph,"  by  Scultetus  who 

*  This  is,  I  believe,  the  name.  I  have  no  means  at  hand  to 
verify  it.  The  German  title  of  the  poem  is,  Oesterliche  Tri- 
umphposaune. 

15 


170  REMINISCENCES 

died  early.  Surely  this  poem,  though  with  all  the 
quaintness  of  the  age,  indicates  a  truly  great  genius. 


Galilei. 

[1  said  to  Mr.  Niebuhr,  that  Galilei  ought  to  have 
either  recanted  instantly,  and  thus  shown  his  utter 
contempt  for  the  intolerant  supporters  of  ignorance; 
or,  once  having  denied  it,  ought  never  to  have  yield- 
ed.] 

Mr.  Niebuhr  said:  He  was  actually  tortured  in 
Rome;  and  no  man  can  be  answerable  for  what  he 
does  driven  hy  torture.  Besides,  acts  of  this  kind 
are  always  to  be  viewed  in  different  lights;  and 
young  men  like  you  judge  them  very  differently 
from  what  men  of  riper  age  do. 


French  Royalists. 

I  have  heard  the  French  ambassador  say  things 
here  in  my  house  which  forbode  nothing  good,  if 
they  express  the  sentiments  of  the  majority  of  emi- 
grants ;  and  I  fear  that  they  do  express  them,  for  he 
was  long  the  confidential  friend  of  Louis  XVIII. 
They  hate  everything  that  dates  from  a  time  after 


OF  M.  NIEBX7RR.  171 

the  Revolution.  That  they  must  have  their  peculiar 
feelings  as  to  this  event,  is  natural;  but  they  ought 
to  forget  all  hatred,  and,  above  all,  give  up  all  desire 
of  vengeance  ;  which  many  of  them,  I  dare  say, 
harbour  in  no  slight  degree. 


Priests  at  the  time  of  Jiristophanes. 

At  the  time  of  Aristophanes  the  Greek  priests 
had  actually  sunk  as  much  as  the  Franciscans  have, 
for  instance,  at  present.  They  were  contemned  as 
lazy,  slothful  people:  they  begged  too,  now  and 
then. 


Diffei^ence  between  the  Pope  and  his  Maestro  di 
Palazzo. 

[1  told  Mr.  Niebuhr  that  Signore  ,  professor 

of  mathematics  in  the  Sapienza,  had  told  me  that 
Professor  had  written  a  compendium  of  astro- 
nomy, but  the  Maestro  di  Palazzo,  a  Dominican, 
refused  the  imprimatur.  The  author  complained  of 
it  to  the  Pope,  who  ordered  the  imprimatur.  The 
Dominican  refused  still.  The  Pope  laid  the  book  be- 
fore the  Inquisition,  over  which  a  Dominican  always 
presides,  and  the  Holy  Office  allowed  the  imprima- 


172  REMINISCENCES 

tur.  The  Maestro  di  Palazzo  refused  still.  The 
Pope  then  ordered  another  bishop  to  give  the  impri- 
matur, and  the  book  at  length  was  printed!  This 
happened  about  two  years  before  I  told  it  to  Mr. 
Niebuhr.] 

He  said:  The  Dominican  could  only  dare  to  do  so 
because  the  Pope  had  not  given  his  order  to  grant 
the  imprimatur  in  carica,  and  thus  he  was  not  infal- 
lible,— at  least,  he  had  not  first  heard  the  mass  of 
invocation  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

[Either  in  this  or  some  other  manual  on  astrono- 
my for  the  use  of  the  students  in  the  Sapienza,  the 
system  of  Copernicus  was  allowed  to  be  given  only 
in  a  note,  where  it  was  said  that  thus  Copernicus  had 
taught.] 


Contubernium. 

[I  asked  Mr.  Niebuhr  whether  he  could  give  me 
any  accurate  information  respecting  the  contuber- 
7iium.  He  said  he  had  never  been  able  to  ascertain 
anything  entirely  satisfactory  to  him.] 


Marius  and  Sylla. 


Marius  and  Sylla  were  not  mere  bloodhounds. 
The  state  of  things,  as  so  often  is  the  case,  brought 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR 


173 


them  to  what  they  did.  Each  of  the  two  was  in 
the  right  and  in  the  wrong ;  it  is  always  so  where 
parties  exist.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  they  were 
both  actuated  by  ideas.] 


The  Bourbons. 

The  real  object  of  the  war  proposed  against  Spain 
(in  1823,)  is  to  re-establish  the  great  Bourbon  league 
as  it  had  been  brought  about  towards  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  Everything  else  in  this 
affair  is  but  subservient  to  this  great  end  of  the 
Bourbons. 


Candia. 

Candia  was,  even  when  under  the  power  of 
Venice,  almost  entirely  independent.  There  ex- 
isted the  strangest  relation  between  the  inhabitants 
and  the  governor. 

15* 


174 


REMINISCENCES 


Naj)oleon  and  Alexander, — Greece. 

Napoleon  and  Alexander  were  nearly  agreed  as 
to  the  plan  of  dividing  Turkey  :  Constantinople 
alone  remained  the  difficult  and  unsettled  question. 


Convents. 

Convents  partly  originated,  and  partly  derived 
their  rapid  increase,  from  the  universal  feeling  of 
misery  in  the  first  centuries  of  Christianity.  The 
truly  afflicting  times  forced  the  poor  people  into 
monastic  retirement. 


Spaniards. 

An  old  writer  says  :  <*The  Spaniards  are  eagles 
on  their  horses,  lions  in  their  fastnesses,  women  in 
the  open  field.^'  The  accounts  of  those  who  served 
with  them  against  the  French  agree  with  this.  Mise- 
rable  in  open  battle,  they  were  lions  indeed  in  Sa- 
ragossa.  This  trait  seems  to  be  old  ;  the  Numan- 
tians  showed  it. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


175 


Origin  of  the  Carnival. 

It  is  by  no  means  certain  wiien  the  carnival 
originated, — whetlier  it  grew  out  of  the  new  order 
of  things,  or  is  a  transformation  of  pagan  feasts.  I 
believe  the  comedies  of  Shrove-Tuesday*  are  of 
German  origin. 


Human  Power. 

It  is  ascertained  that,  towards  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  in  Holland,  four  men  had  the 
same  amount  of  power  which  five  men  had  a  cen- 
tury afterwards.    The  food  had  essentially  changed. 


Influence  of  the  Popes. 

The  authority  of  the  early  popes  was  of  great  ad- 
vantage to  mankind.  It  was  the  concentrating  and, 
not  unfrequently,  protecting  power  when  every- 
thing relapsed  into  barbarism  and  destruction,  and 
the  dissolution  of  society  was  universal. 


*  Fastnachtsspiek. 


176 


REMINISCENCES 


Ancient  Roads. 

The  ancient  Roman  roads,  of  which  so  many  were 
laid  out,  had  elevated  foot-paths  on  each  side  for 
passengers.  They  did  not  think  alone  of  the  horses, 
like  our  modern  engineers. 


United  States  and  England. 

If  the  United  States  did  not  form  a  confederation, 
but  if  their  great  powers  were  concentrated  into  one 
powerful  government,  a  war  with'  England  would 
soon  ensue  for  the  supremacy  of  the  sea.  This  might 
become  the  Peloponnesian  war  for  the  latter,  on 
account  of  internal  division,  over-population  and  ex- 
haustion. 


Leo  the  Great. 

Leo  the  Great  deserves  his  n£lme.  He  was  a  truly 
great  man,  a  mighty  mind. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR. 


177 


The  French  in  Italy. 

The  day  before  the  French  left  Rome,  they  de- 
manded the  silver  and  gold  cases  of  the  seals  in  the 
archives.  The  silver  which  has  been  carried  out  of 
St.  Peter's  alone,  without  any  regard  even  to  the 
works  of  Benvenuto  Cellini,  is  immense.  But  a 
good  deal  may  have  been  carried  off  by  Italians' 
themselves. 


Births. 

Italian  physicians  have  assured  me  that  the  crime 
of  preventing  births  is  incredibly  general  in  Italy. 
When  under  the  French  dominion,  people  found  em- 
ployment, population  rapidly  increased;  but  misery 
has  brought  back  vice. 


Ganganelli. 

Pope  Ganganelli  was  not  poisoned  :  he  died  of 
his  injudicious  custom  of  lying  in  the  sun,  even  after 
he  had  become  very  sickly.  Remorse,  too,  at  hav- 
ing abolished  the  Jesuits,  which  he  did  from  mere 
compliance  with  the  Bourbon  courts,  and  against 
his  conviction,  did  its  part  to  undermine  his  health. 


178 


REMINISCENCES 


Attila. 

Latin  was  spoken  at  the  court  of  Attila,  and  it 
was  used  as  the  means  of  communication  with  the 
Italians  and  other  nations.  Attila  himself  under- 
stood Latin,  and  farces  in  that  language  were  per- 
formed at  his  court.  Procopias  has  interesting  pas- 
sages on  this  point. 


Jldulation  of  Napoleon. 

"  Napoleon  est  notre  Dieu  said  Ney  to  the 
professors  of  the  university  of  Helmstaedt.  You 
know  the  Archbishop  of  Paris  called  him,  in  a  pas- 
toral letter  to  his  bishops,  Vhomme  de  la  droite  de 
Dieu :  and  Fabre  de  P  Ande,  president  of  the  tri- 
bunal, wrote  to  Napoleon's  mother  :  "  La  concep- 
tion que  vous  avez  eue,  en  poi^fant  dans  votre 
sein  le  Grand  Napoleon,  n^a  ete  surement  qu^une 
inspiration  divine  !  But  even  with  us,  my  friend, 
the  adulation  was  carried  by  some  wretches  to  an 
equal  extent  of  shameful  madness.  Even  now, 
when  I  relate  it,  it  has  already  become  incredible  ; 
and  yet  it  is  a  fact.  How  often  has  it  not  been  said, 
"God  created  Napoleon,  and  rested!"  What  is 
man  !  This  happened  but  yesterday  :  how  utterly 
vile  ! 


OF  M>  NIEBUHR. 


179 


Lucien  Bonaparte. 

I  have  seen  Lucien  Bonaparte  since  my  residence 
in  Rome.  I  have  a  great  regard  for  him,  and  he 
seems  to  like  me.  He  has  repeatedly  invited  me  ; 
but  you  know  my  station  does  not  precisely  allow  of 
an  intimate  intercourse  with  him.  His  monomania  is 
his  verses.  He  has  read  to  me  French  poems  of  his 
without  rhyme,  having  imitated,  as  he  though  the 
had,  the  ancient  metre.  Imagine  a  poem  relying,  as 
to  form,  on  metre  only,  in  a  language  which  has  no 
prosody,  and  hardly  any  rhythm  !  It  is  a  marotte, 
if  ever  any  existed  !  There  is  no  earthly  reason  for 
ending  the  line,  or  verse,  as  he  calls  it,  where  he 
ends  it  ;  he  might  just  as  well  have  gone  on.  But, 
as  I  said,  I  have  a  great  regard  for  him. 


Celestine  V. 

It  is  far  from  being  historically  certain  whether 
Celestine  V.  resigned  the  papal  crown  from  convic- 
tion, or  whether  he  was  induced  to  do  so  by  the 
family  of  Gaetano,  whatever  means  they  used,  and 
for  whatever  considerations.  I  do  not  mean  to  say 
h«_^  had  elevated  himself  to  the  conviction  that,  al- 


180 


REMINISCENCES 


though  possessed  of  the  power  to  bind  and  loose,  no 
mortal  being  was  in  fact  endued  with  it;  yet  he 
may  have  modestly  acknowledged  to  himself  that 
he  was  not  capable  of  binding  and  loosening  man, 
and  thus  willingly  yielded  to  Boniface  VIII. 


St,  Peter^s  Church. 


Spain  formerly  paid  annually  eighty  thousand 
dollars  towards  the  repairs  of  the  building  of  St. 
Peter's.  The  same  country  paid  a  large  sum  to 
the  Lateran.  Annual  repairs  of  great  expense  are 
necessary,  in  order  to  prevent  the  cupola  from  break- 
ing down.  It  has  already  many  cracks  ;  and  as  the 
money  for  repairs  is  wanting,  they  increase.  An 
earthquake  would  soon  change  the  gigantic  work 
into  ruins.  There  is  now  an  iron  hoop  of  several 
millions  of  pounds  around  the  cupola.  The  real 
estate  belonging  to  the  fabrica,  the  revenues  of 
which  are  applied  to  repairs  only,  is  far  from  being 
sufficient. 


or  M.  NIEBUHR. 


181 


Italian  Language. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  all  the  barbarous 
words  in  Italian  have  been  introduced  by  the  Teu- 
tonic tribes.  There  are  many  of  Greek,  African,  and 
other  origin,  from  Asia  Minor  and  various  other 
parts  of  the  world.  They  were  brought  by  the  slaves, 
became  common  among  the  vulgar,  and  when  the 
lingua  volgare  was  elevated  to  the  rank  of  a  pro- 
per independent  language,  they  too  were  retained. 

[What  Mr.  Niebuhr  here  asserts  may  appear  bold 
to  some,  who  cannot  imagine  how  a  word  brought 
by  slaves  should  ever  become  so  generally  adopted. 
They  must  remember  that  some  parts  of  the  world 
furnished  innumerable  slaves,  and  that  slaves  of  cer- 
tain countries  were  preferred  for  certain  trades. 
These,  then,  might  easily  transplant  a  native  word 
of  theirs  to  Rome,  and  fix  it  in  their  new  country 
to  an  object  familiar  to  their  trade  and  occupation. 
However,  even  without  this  latter  explanation,  it  is 
quite  possible  that  foreign  words  became  generally 
used,  though  imported  only  by  slaves.  The  negro 
slaves  of  the  southern  parts  of  the  United  States  and 
of  the  West  Indies  live  without  any  communication 
among  themselves  comparable  to  that  which  existed 
among  the  slaves  of  antiquity,  and  yet  there  are 
some  entirely  foreign  words  in  general  use  among 
16 


182 


REMINISCENCES 


them,  notwithstanding  their  origin  from  so  many 
different  countries  in  Africa.  Thus  the  word  Bu- 
kra,*  for  white  man,  is  common  to  all  slaves  held  by 
owners  of  the  English  race.    Suppose  these  slaves 

*  Thomas  Bee,  Esq.  of  Charleston,  S.  C„  thinks  that  this  cu- 
rious word  is  not  derived  from  an  African  word,  but  from  the 
Spanish  Bucaro,  a  kind  of  clay  found  in  America.  The  Dicion- 
ario  de  la  Academia  speaks  of  three  sorts  of  bucaro — white,  red, 
and  black;  but  Mr.  Bee  thinks  the  white  or  red  clay  of  this  kind 
is  far  more  frequently  and  g-enerally  meant  by  the  word  bucaro. 
The  Negro  word  Brautus,  for  cheap,  is  derived  by  the  same 
gentleman  from  the  Spanish  barato,  cheap.  The  intercourse 
between  nations  often  introduces  words  where  we  should  not 
expect  them.  Their  general  use  is  frequently  quite  surprising. 
The  word  hammock,  in  French  homac  or  branle,  in  Dutch  hang- 
mah  and  hangmat,  of  which  the  German  hangemaite  was  formed, 
(which  was  adapting  it  to  German  words,  and  the  meaning 
which  it  now  conveys  coincides  well  with  the  thing  it  desig- 
nates,) in  Spanish  hamaca,  in  Italian  amaca,  or  branda  americana, 
8cc.  is  derived  by  my  distinguished  friend  M.  Du  Ponceau,  of 
Philadelphia,  from  the  Caribbee  word  hamac,  which  means  a  bed^ 
i,  e.  a  hammock  ;  for  they  used  this  kind  of  swinging  beds  only, 
and  the  buccaneers  carried  the  word  to  the  various  nations.  M. 
Du  Ponceau  found  the  Carribbee  word  hamac  in  the  Diet.  Ca- 
raibe^  par  le  Rev.  Pere  Raymond,  Breton,  Religieux  de  I'ordre 
des  Freres  Precheurs;  et  I'un  des  quatre  premiers  Missionaires 
Apostoliques  en  I'Isle  de  la  Gardeloupe,  Sec. ;"  Auxerre,  1665. 
The  same  has  published  a  Caribbee  Grammar;  Auxerre,  1667. 
Why  isgogo,  manger  a  gogo,  eat  as  much  as  one  likes,  now  used 
all  over  France,  though  it  probably  comes  from  the  Base  word 
gogoa,  will,  voluntas,  according  to  the  same  learned  philologist.^ 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  183 

did  not  differ  in  colour  from  ourselves ;  that  they 
were  the  schoolmasters  of  our  children,  and  filled 
many  of  the  most  important  stations  in  our  house- 
holds and  families;  and  that,  by  a  similar  process 
with  that  which  changed  the  Latin  language,  the 
English  idioms  were  supplanted  by  the  lingua  vol- 
gare  of  the  slaves, — the  word  Bukra  would  cer- 
tainly settle  down  in  the  new  language,  as  ziOj  for 
instance,  has  done  in  Italian.  Treating  of  this  sub- 
ject, I  may  be  permitted  to  add,  that  the  Creole  lan- 
guage— that  of  the  blunt,^hildish,  helpless  mind  of 
the  slave — shows  numerous  transformations  of  the 
original  cultivated  language  into  barbarisms,  where 
poverty  of  thought  and  poverty  of  expression  are 
equally  characteristic;  quite  similar  to  the  changes 
by  which  Latin  was  transformed  into  Italian.  To 
this  day,  expressions  may  be  heard  among  the  low- 
est in  Italy,  which,  compared  with  Latin,  sound  per- 
fectly Creole  to  an  ear  that  has  ever  heard  the  poor 
Negro  chat  his  childish,  and,  on  this  very  account, 
sometimes  not  quite  disagreeable  language.] 


Mr.  Niebuhi'^s  History/, 


Though  I  have  had  occasion  to  modify  some  of 
my  opinions,  and  my  residence  in  Rome  has  given 


184 


REMINISCENCES 


me  so  much  clearer  a  perception  and  image*  of 
ancient  Rome,  yet  1  rejoice  at  having  formed  on 
the  whole  so  correct  a  picture  at  so  great  a  dis- 
tance. 


Courage, 

•  [We  conversed  about  some  person  whose  personal 
courage  we  doubted.  I^bserved,  that  I  had  my 
doubts  as  to  the  distinction  between  moral  and 
physical  courage;  and  that,  though  I  could  im.agine 
a  man  of  physical  courage  quail  when  moral  boldness 
is  to  be  shown,  I  doubted  whether  a  coward  could 
ever  show  great  moral  courage.] 

You  are  very  much  mistaken,  Mr.  Niebuhr  re- 
plied :  I  have  no  physical  courage,  and  yet  I  hope 
I  should  act  like  a  man  as  to  moral  courage.  There 
have  been  many  instances  which  prove  that  you  are 
wrong. 

[We  probably  did  not  quite   understand  each 

*  Mr.  Niebuhr's  topographic  knowledge  of  all  the  different 
periods  of  Rome  was  in  the  fact  but  as  he  could  have  it.  The 
share  he  has  in  the  Description  of  the  City  of  Rome  by  Bunsen 
and  Platner,  1829,  (of  which  one  volume  only  has  as  yet  ap- 
peared,)  is  know 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  185 

Other.  What  Mr.  Niebuhr  called  moral  courage  in 
a  naturally  timid  man,  may  be  the  conviction  of 
duty.  Thus  I  have  myself  known  an  officer  who 
openly  confessed  that  he  was  naturally  the  greatest 
coward,  but  he  did  not  allow  this  feeling  to  show 
itself,  and  fought  so  well  that  he  received  an  order. 
That  I  did  not  draw  my  line  of  distinction  well, 
need  not  be  mentioned  ;  and  it  would  be  easy,  I 
believe,  to  show  it  with  much  more  precision,  were 
I  to  give  my  own,  not  Mr.  Niebuhr's  opinions.] 


A  Capuchin. 

Something  curious  happened  lately  in  Naples. 
The  confessor  of  the  King  of  Naples  is  a  Capuchin  : 
he  wished  for  an  order,  with  a  revenue  attached  to 
it.  The  king  granted  it ;  but  the  archbishop  re- 
fused the  permission  to  wear  the  sign  of  the  order 
on  the  Capuchin  dress.  The  pope  was  appealed  to; 
he  granted  the  dispensation  to  wear  the  common 
dress  of  ecclesiastics  with  the  sign  of  the  order.  But 
a  new  difficulty  arose  on  account  of  the  beard. 
16* 


186 


REMINISCENCES 


Venetians. 

The  Venitians,  in  their  deeply-considered  politics, 
have  never  suffered  feudalism  among  them.  They 
had  noblemen  indeed,  but  no  feudalism  among 
these  ;  their  government,  aristocratic  to  those  who 
were  ruled,  was  that  of  equality  among  the  rulers. 


Ignorance  in  Rome. 

[I  had  been  unable  to  buy  a  decent  map  of  Italy, 
or  any  part  of  it,  in  Rome.  All  I  had  found  was  a 
map  of  1763,  and  another  of  1790  or  thereabouts; 
and  I  had  been  told  in  the  stamperie  earner  ale  that 
I  should  be  unable  to  obtain  what  I  wished.  I  could 
not  help  asking  the  fattore,  whether  they  were  not 
ashamed  of  not  having  even  a  proper  map  in  their 
alma  citta.  "  Che  vuol  che  dica  with  a  shrug 
of  the  shoulders,  had  also  been  the  answer  in  this 
case.    I  told  this  to  Mr.  Neibuhr  :] 

Ignorance  and  indolence  in  some  cases  go  beyond 
all  conception.  Tradition  rules  Rome.  Even  with 
the  antiquities  and  ruins  before  their  eyes,  there  is 
very  little  inquiry  and  sound  active  investigation 
here.    A  statue  has,  for  some  reason  or  other,  been 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  187 

said  lo  be  sucli  or  such  a  thing  for  several  centuries, 
though  those  who  first  named  it  had  not  half  the  know- 
ledge we  have  about  it ;  and  on  it  goes  with  this  name 
for  ever.  There  have  been  excellent  exceptions,  but 
now  the  march  is  rather  backward.  Since  the 
French  government  has  been  dissolved  here,  the 
snxiety  of  re-establishing  the  former  state  of  things 
directs  all  attention  to  this  one  point,  and  inquiry  is 
forgotten,  or  even  considered  as  something  modern, 
and  almost  objectionable. 


Testa, — Rostro. 

[I  said,  jocosely,  that  I  should  like  to  know 
whether  the  Latin  word  testa,  a  pot,  rose  in  mean- 
ing, and  came  to  signify  in  Italian  the  head  ;  or 
whether  heads  sank  in  value  and  became  like  empty 
pots.  Capo^  for  head,  was  yet  common  in  the 
middle  ages.] 

Bo  that  as  it  may,  Mr.  Niebuhr  replied,  there  is  a 
word  which  shows  very  clearly  the  process  of  trans- 
formation of  modern  languages  out  of  the  Latin. 
The  Roman  soldiers  carried  the  word  rostrum^ 
vulgarly  used  by  them  for  mouth,  to  Spain  ;  as  our 
soldiers  would  say,  in  a  similar  way,  snout  beak  : 
but  now  rostro  means  in  Spanish  face,  and  is  pure 
Castilian. 


18S 


REMINISCENCES 


Oracles, 

Those  oracles  of  the  ancients  are  a  strange  thing. 
It  is  easy  to  say,  it  was  all  an  artifice  of  the  priests ; 
but  these  priests  themselves  were  a  part  of  the 
people.  Besides,  such  explanations  did  well  enough 
for  the  time  of  the  French  philosophers,  as  they 
were  called  ;  but  we  want  deeper  inquiries  at  this 
day.  Why  is  it  they  were  so  long  respected  by 
the  people  ?  How  does  it  happen  that  we  find  them 
in  some  shape  or  other  everywhere  ?  Did  man,  in 
those  early  periods,  stand  nearer  to  nature  ? 


Early  Civilization. 

It  seems  that  civilization  must  have  started  by 
some  immediate  inspiration  ;  for  whence  comes  it, 
that  no  tribe,  though  discovered  centuries  ago  in  a 
savage  state,  has  advanced  since  then  except  by  some 
impulse  from  foreign  nations  already  civilized  ?  The 
mythology,  too,  of  almost  every  nation,  whose  civi- 
lization dates  from  remote  periods,  teaches  that  a 
god  or  goddess  descended  to  instruct  man  in  agri- 
culture, the  use  of  iron,  and  other  elementary  arts. 
I  hardly  can  conceive  how  man  could  have  invented 
by  himself  the  complicated  process  of  baking  bread. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  189 

at  so  early  a  period  as  that  in  which  we  find  him 
already  provided  with  this  indispensable  article.* 


[The  following  is  a  translation  of  a  short  essay  on 
the  allegory  in  the  first  canto  of  Dante,  written  by 
Mr.  Niebuhr  during  his  perusal  of  that  great  poet, 
and  intended,  if  I  remember  right,  for  one  of  the 
learned  societies  of  Rome,  or  actually  read  there. 
Certain  it  is  that  I  copied  it  (with  his  permission) 
from  the  original,  in  Italian,  which  I  found  in  the 
copy  of  Dante  he  had  lent  me.  It  will  be  an  accept- 
able gift  to  all  those  friends  of  the  great  scholar 
who  are  acquainted  with  Dante.] 

It  is  generally  believed  by  all  the  commentators 
of  Dante,  that  in  the  allegory  with  which  his  divine 
poem  begins,  the  wood  {la  selva)  in  which  the  poet 
wanders  about  during  night,  ought  to  be  explained 
by  the  state  of  the  human  soul,  enveloped  in  vices 
and  passions  ;  the  hill  {il  colle)  surrounded  by  the 
beams  of  the  sun,  as  the  allegory  for  virtue  :  and 
the  wild  beasts  (il  fere)  which  assail  him  in  ascend- 
ing the  mountain,  by  the  vices  of  carnal  appetite, 

•  These  last  observations  of  my  revered  friend  and  guide 
give  occasion  to  repeat  what  I  said  in  the  Introduction,  that  I 
have  not  been  so  presumptuous  as  to  assume  the  right  of  slating 
or  omitting  what  fell  from  him,  according  to  my  own  assent  or 
dissent ;  nor  that  I  could  add  to  the  value  of  his  views  by  stating 
my  own  opinions. 


190  REMINISCENCES 

pride  and  avarice.  This  interpretation  seems  to  me 
absolutely  erroneous,  and  incapable  of  being  made 
to  agree  with  the  sense  of  many  passages. 

Let  those  who  propose  this  interpretation  as  a 
matter  quite  certain,  explain  to  us  how  the  poet  could 
say,  the  great  dog  of  Scala'^  would  kill  Avarice ; 
and  how,  after  the  poet  has  left  the  wood,  which 
they  believe  to  be  the  image  of  the  realm  of  passions 
and  vices,  he  was  attacked  at  that  spot  by  some  of 
these  vicious  passions  ?  How,  finally,  the  gay  appa- 
rition of  one  of  these  vicious  inclinations  was  able 
to  fortify  his  hope,  giving  it  strength  to  arrive  at 
virtue  ? 

If  there  were  a  tradition  preserved  as  to  the 
interpretation  of  Dante,  we  should  undoubtedly  feel 
obliged  to  submit  to  its  authority  ;  but  after  the 
more  modern  commentators  have  proved  that  the 
ancients  have  strangely  mistaken  the  sense  of  vari- 
ous passages,  it  may  be  permitted  to  attempt  a  new 
and  more  simple  interpretation. 

It  seems  to  me  that  Dante  must  have  spoken,  not 
of  what  is  common  to  human  fate,  as  the  state  of 
sinfulness  and  the  effort  to  elevate  himself  to  virtue 
would  be ;  nor  that  he  would  have  strayed  so  far 
from  the  dogmas  of  his  religion,  as  he  would  have 
done,  in  supposing  that  man  enters  and  leaves  the 
state  of  sinfulness  during  life  ;  but,  on  the  contrary. 


OF  M.  NIEBUHR.  191 

that  everything  must  be  explained  by  his  life,  and 
the  peculiarities  connected  therewith. 

It  appears  to  me  extremely  simple  to  interpret  the 
whole  allegory  in  the  following  way  :  Dante  con- 
fessess  himself  to  have  been,  after  his  youth  had 
passed  away,  in  a  state  of  misery,  when  la  diritta 
via  era  smarritta,  and  he  found  himself  enveloped 
in  the  darkness  of  night ; — which  signifies  that, 
assailed  by  passions,  he  had  lost  that  control  over 
himself,  and  that  power  to  guide  himself,  according 
to  the  dictates  of  true  reason  and  the  eternal  laws, 
without  which  man  is  deprived  of  his  perfect  free- 
will— a  condition  into  which  the  soul  is  thrown 
insensibly  and  by  surprise,  as  he  who  is     full  of 
sleep"  {pien  di  sonno)  is  led  into  such  an  unknown 
place.    Yet  this  state  of  the  mind  is  not  so  constant 
as  not  to  allow  of  wakeful  moments,  during  which 
we  behold  before  our  eyes  the  light  of  truth  and 
wisdom.    That  this  truth  is  not  only  the  mundane 
wisdom,  but  the  wisdom  enlightened  by  Revelation, 
seems  to  me  expressed  by  the  hill  surrounded  by 
the  rays  of  the  sun.    It  unveils  itself  to  Dante,  and 
shows  the  path  towards  the  summit;  but  the  wild 
beasts  meet  him  as  impediments  on  his  way.    I  do 
not  believe  that  Dante  meant  to  indicate  by  these 
wild  beasts  anything  but  the  obstacles  which  in- 
duced him  to  give  up  the  farther  ascent  to  the  top 
of  the  hill.     Perhaps  they  are  individuals,  and  par- 
ticular enemies  of  the  poetj  perhaps  they  are  per- 


192  REMINISCENCES  OF  M.  NIEBUHIl. 

sonifications,  which  I  am  unable  sufficiently  to  ex- 
plain: yet  this  does  not  show  that  my  view  is  unte- 
nable.   As  to  the  wolf,  {carca  di  brame,)  it  seems 
to  be  evident  that  it  signifies  the  party  of  the 
Guelphs,  or  that  of  the  Roman  church — the  wolf 
being  besides  the  proper  image  of  Rome,  on  ac- 
count of  its  origin;  that  the  many  animals  with 
which  it  unites  itself  {molti  son  gli  animali,  a 
cui  s\tmmoglia)  signify  the  many  diversified  ele- 
ments of  which,  at  various  times,  the  party  of  the 
Guelphs  was  composed  ;  and  that  the  priest  should 
be  conquered  by  the  head  of  the  Ghibellines,  fol- 
lowing in  this  the  common  way  of  poetic  prophe- 
cies.   Non  salirai  tu  alia  cima,  says  Virgil,  per 
questa  strada  :  that  is  to  say,  it  is  impossible  to 
arrive  at  wisdom,  travelling  thr^gh  the  world  as 
thou  hast  done  so  far  ;  it  is  necessary  that  thou 
shouldst  abandon  it,  and  that,  by  the  contemplation 
of  human  life,  its  faults  and  vices,  for  which  the 
guidance  of  a  sage  illumined  only  by  the  natural 
light  is  sufficient,  thou  prepare  thyself  to  be  led  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  supernatural  things  in  the 
government  of  God,  which  cannot  be  obtained  by 
the  study  of  pagan  authors. 

In  this  way,  it  appears  to  me,  the  intricate  knot 
of  this  allegory  is  untied  without  any  violence. 


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IN  2  VOLS.  12mo. 

"  A  clever  and  intelligent  author.  There  is  a  quaint  humor  and  observance 
of  character  in  his  novels,  that  interest  me  very  much ;  and  when  he  chooses 
to  be  pathetic,  he  fools  one  to  his  bent ;  for,  I  assure  you,  the  '  Entail'  beguiled 
me  of  some  portion  of  watery  humors,  yclept  tears,  albeit  unused  to  the  melt- 
ing mood.  He  has  a  sly  caustic  humor  that  is  very  amusing."— Xord  Byron  to 
Lady  Blessington. 

"  One  of  the  remarkable  characteristics  of  Gait,  is  to  be  found  in  the  rare 
power  he  possesses  of  giving  such  an  appearance  of  actual  truth  to  his  narra- 
tive, as  induces  the  reader  to  doubt  whether  that  which  he  is  perusing,  under 
the  name  of  a  novel,  be  not  rather  a  statement  of  amusing  facts,  than  an 
invented  story." 


ROSIIVE  LAVAL., 

BY  MR.  SMITH. 

An  American  Novel.    In  1  volume,  12mo. 

"  The  perusal  of  a  few  pages  of  the  work  must  impress  every  reader  with 
the  opinion  that  the  writer  is  no  ordinary  person."— JVai.  Gazette. 

"  His  pages  abound  with  passages  of  vigor  and  beauty,  with  much  fund 
for  abstract  thought;  and  with  groups  of  incidents  which  not  only  fix  the 
attention  of  the  reader,  but  awake  his  admiration." — Phi:.  Gazette. 

"  It  is  one  of  the  most  pleasinsr,  chaste,  and  spirited  productions  that  we 
have  met  with  for  a  long  time.  We  may  claim  it  with  pride  as  an  American 
production." — Bait.  Gazette. 


CECIL  HYDE.— A  novel,  in  2  vols.  12mo. 
"  This  is  a  new  '  Pelham.'  It  is  altogether  a  novel  of  manners,  and  paints 
with  truth,  and  a  lively,  sketchy  spirit,  the  panorama  of  fashionable  life." 
—Atlas, 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  JACK  KETCH. 

IN  ONE  VOL.  WITH  PLATES 


New  Works,  published  by  Carey,  Lea,  Blanchard* 


TPIE  LIBRARY  OF  ROMANCE, 


WHICH  CONSISTS  OF  A  SERIES  OF 


ORIGINAL  TALES,  NOVELS,  AND  OTHER  WORKS  OF  FICTION, 


BY  THE  MOST  EMINENT  WRITERS  OF  THE  AGE,  AND  EDITED  BY 


Leitch  Ritchie,  Esq. 


Vol.  I. 

THE  GHOST-HUNTER  AND  HIS  FAMILY,  by  Mr. 
Banim,  author  of  the  O'Hara  Tales,  is  universally  acknow- 
ledged to  be  the  most  talented  and  extraordinary  work  that 
has  issued  from  the  press  for  many  years. 

"  Mr.  Banim  has  put  forth  all  the  vigor  that  belongs  to  the  old  O'Hara 
Tales,  and  avoided  the  weakness  that  sullied  his  subsequent  effbils"—AUie- 
ntEum. 

"  There  is  more  tenderness,  more  delicacy  shown  in  the  development  of  female 
character,  than  we  have  ever  before  met  with  in  the  works  of  this  powerful 
novelist. 

"  Banim  never  conceived  a  character  more  finely  than  the  young  Ghost-Hun- 
ter, Morris  Brady.  It  is  a  bold  and  striking  outline." — Author  of  Eugeno 
Aram. 


Vol.  VIII. 

WALDEMAR, 

A  TALE  OF  THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR. 

BY  W.  H.  HARRISON,  AUTHOR  OF  TALES  OF  A  PHYSICIAN,  &C. 


Vol.  II. 

SCHINDERHANNES,  THE  ROBBER  OF  THE  RHINE, 

BY  THE  EDITOR. 

"  It  is  long  since  we  have  met  with  so  bold,  spirited,  and  original  a  story." 
— Literary  Qazette. 

"  We  now  once  more  recommend  the  work  itself,  and  the  series,  of  which 
it  is  a  worthy  volume,  to  the  i)ubhc."—Athen<Bum, 

"Decidedly  one  of  the  best  romances  we  have  ever  read."— Couri  Journal. 

"  Mr.  Ritchie's  Tales  sometimes  amount  to  the  sublime,  eithej^  in  the  terri- 
ble exigency  or  the  melting  pathos  of  the  event,  or  in  the  picturesque  energy 
of  the  description. — Schinderhannes  may  be  esteemed  as  the  best  work  of  fic- 
tion for  which  we  are  indebted  to  his  pen."— ^«/as. 


New  Workg,  published  by  Carey^  Lea^  &/  Blaucliard* 


Vol.  III. 
WALT  HAM, 

^  A  N  O  V  E  L. 

"  Certain  we  are  that  very  few  of  our  modern  novels  can  produce  a  charac- 
ter more  admirably  drawn  than  that  of  Murdock  Macara,  and  Johnson  the 
quondam  tutor  ;  Mr.  Bolton  and  Hulsoii  are  sketches  that  no  one  but  a  man 
of  talent  could  have  conceived,  and  none  but  a  master  could  have  filled  up."— 
London  Monthly  Magazine. 

It  is  a  publication  of  no  ordinary  merit,  is  written  with  considerable  pow- 
er, and  embodies  a  story  of  deep  interest.  The  Library  of  Romance  has 
already  an  extensive  circulation,  and  deserves  still  greater. 

"The  numbers  published  thus  far,  are  devoted  to  works  of  the  best  descrip- 
tion, and  are  calculated  to  entertain  without  oflending  a  single  moral  pre- 
cept."— Penn.  Inquirer. 

"  There  are  some  fine  passages,  and  touches  of  strong  descriptive  powers  of 
nature  and  characters."— £aZi.  .d7/ier. 

Vol.  IV. 

THE    STOLEN  CHILD, 

A  TALE  OF  THE  TOWN, 

BY  JOHN  GALT. 

"The  auto-biography  in  this  volume  is  equal  to  Mr.  Gait's  best  days,  and 
even  his  subordinate  characters  are  worthy  to  be  recorded  in  the  Auiials  of 
the  Parii-h.''—j3t/Lenceum. 

"  The  Stolen  Child  is  a  most  cleverly  managed  story. 

"We  do  not  think  anyone  ever  exceeded  Mr.  Gait  in  sketching  national 
portraits— they  are  preserved  as  if  for  a  museum  of  natural  curiosities."— 
Lit.  6az. 

"  A  story  of  considerable  interest."— £a/<.  Oazettt. 

Vol.  V. 
THE  BONDMAN, 

A  TALE  OF  THE  TIMES  OF  WAT  TYI^R. 

"  A  very  picturesque  and  interesting  story,  and  laid  during  a  period  which 
well  deserves  illustration." — Lit.  Oaz. 

"  One  of  those  stirring  narrations  that  give  a  picture  of  the  times,  and  take 
along  the  reader  with  the  events,  as  if  he  was  indeed  a  part  of  what  he  read. 
This  series  of  romances  has  thus  far  maintained  its  character  for  novelty  and 
raciness,  and  while  the  whole  is  worthy  of  especial  commendation,  each  num- 
ber is  in  itself  aconiplete  story." — U.S.  Gazette. 

"The  narrative  embraces  one  of  the  most  interesting  periods  of  English  his- 
tory, and  is  full  of  lite  and  spirit.  The  character  of  Wat  Tyler  is  well  depict- 
ed."— Bait.  Gazette. 

Vol.  VI. 

THE  SLAVE-KING, 

from  the  "BUG-JARGAL"  of  victor  HUGO. 

"  In  this  abridged  tale  from  Victor  Hugo,  may  the  readers  of  wonderful  in- 
cidents'woo  terror  to  delight'  them.  The  attention  is  aroused,  and  maintain- 
ed to  a  frenzied  state  of  exciltnient  anxious  to  be  satisfied  with  similar  de- 
tails."—./Jtw.  Sentinel. 

Vol.  VII. 

TALES  OF  THE  CARAVANSERAI. 
THE  KHAN'S  TALE. 

BY  J.  B.  FRAZIER. 


New  Works,  publisKed  by  Carey,  Lea,  &>  Blancliaril* 


Cooper's  New  Novel. 


THE  HEADSMAN, 

A  New  Novel,  by  the  Author  of  the  Spy,  Pilot,  &c.    In  2  vols. 
12mo. 


THE  PARSON'S  DAUGHTER. 

BY  THEODORE  HOOK,  AUTHOR  OF  SAYINGS  AND  DOINGS,  &C. 

IN  2  VOLS.  12mo. 

"  We  proceed  to  assure  the  reader,  who  has  it  before  liim,  that  he  will  enjoy 
an  intellectual  treat  of  no  mean  order.  The  principal  feature  of  its  excel- 
lence is  an  all-engrossing  interest,  which  interest  is  mainly  attributable  to  the 
extreme  vraisemblance  of  its  incidents,  and  the  fidelity  with  which  each 
character  supports  its  individuality.  In  it  there  is  as  much  invention  and 
originality  as  we  have  ever  met  with  in  a  modern  novel,  be  the  author  who 
he  may." — Metropolitan. 

"  The  moral  of  tlie  tale  carries  conviction  as  to  the  justness  of  its  applica- 
bility, and  the  incidents  flow  as  naturally  as  the  stream  of  events  in  every- 
day life." — Ibid. 

"  Here  is  a  novel  from  a  deservedly  popular  author,  written  with  great  ease 
and  sprighlliness." — Athcnaum. 

SWALLOAV  BARN, 

OR,  A  SOJOURN  IN  THE  OLD  DOMINION. 

In  2  vols.  12mo. 

"  We  cannot  but  predict  a  warm  reception  of  this  work  among  all  persons 
who  have  not  lost  their  relish  for  nature  and  probability,  as  well  as  all  those 
who  can  properly  estimate  the  beauties  of  simplicity  in  thought  and  expres- 
sion."— JVew  York  Mirror. 

"  One  of  the  cleverest  of  the  last  publications  written  on  tliis  or  the  other 
side  of  the  Atlantic." — JVcw  York  Courier  and  Enquirer. 

"The  style  is  admirable,  and  the  sketches  of  character,  men,  and  scenery, 
so  fresh  and  agreeable,  that  we  cannot  help  feeling  that  they  are  drawn  from 
nature." 

THE  DOMINIE'S  LEGACY, 

Consisting  of  a  Series  of  Tales  illustrative  of  the  Scenery  and 
Manners  of  Scotland.    In  2  vols.  12mo. 

"  These  pages  are  pictures  from  scenes  whose  impress  of  truth  tells  that  the 
author  has  taken  them  as  an  eye-witness;  and  many  are  rich  in  quiet,  sim- 
ple pathos,  which  is  evidently  his  forte." — Literary  Gazette. 


GALE  MIDDLETON,  A  Novel,  by  Horace  Smith,  Author  of 
Brambletye  House,  &c.    In  2  vols.  12mo. 


TREVALYAN,  A  Novel,  by  the  Author  of  Marriage  in  High 
Life.    In  2  vols. 


New  Works,  published  T>y  Carey,  lica,  «fc  Blaiichard* 


DELOKAINE, 

A  Novel,  in  2  Vols. 

BY  W.  GODWIN,  AUTHOR  OP  CALEB  WILLIAMS,  &C.  &C. 

*'  We  always  regarded  the  novels  of  Godwin  as  grand  productions.  No  one 
ever  more  forcibly  portrayed  the  workings  of  the  mind,  whether  it  were  in  its 
joyous  hilarity  of  happiness,  or  in  the  sublime  agonies  of  despair.  His  tales, 
if  we  may  so  e.xpress  it,  have  each  but  one  character,  and  one  end  ;  but  that 
character,  how  all-absorbing  in  interest,  and  how  vividly  depicted;  and  that 
end.  how  consistent  with  its  preliminaries,  how  satisfactory,  and  how  beauti- 
ful !" — Metropolitan. 


FORTUNES  OF  PERKIN  WARBECK.— a  romance. 

BY  MRS.  SHELLEV,  AUTHOR  OF  FRANKENSTEIN,  &,C.  &C.     2  VOLS.  12mo. 

"  We  must  content  ourselves  by  commending  the  good  use  our  fair 
author  has  made  of  her  materiel,  which  she  has  invested  with  the  grace 
and  existence  of  her  own  poetical  imagination.  The  character  of  Monia 
is  a  conception  as  original  as  it  is  exquisite." — Lit.  Gazette. 

"  The  author  of  Frankenstein  has  made  a  romance  of  great  and  enduring 
interest.  We  recommend  Perkin  Warbeck  to  the  public  attention.  It 
cannot  fail  to  interest  as  a  novel,  while  it  may  impart  useful  instruction  as 
a  history." — Com.  Advertiser. 

ASMODEUS  AT  LARGE, 
A  FICTION. 

BY  BULWER,  AUTHOR  OF  PELHAM,  EUGENE  ARAM,  &e. 

"  This  is  another  admirable  production  from  the  prolific  pen  of  Mr.  Bulwer— 
distinguished  by  the  same  profundity  of  thought  and  matchless  humor  which 
are  so  happily  combined  in  all  his  writings." — Baltimore  Weekly  Messenger. 

"  Our  readers  have  felt  that  the  impassioned  pen  of  the  author  of  Eugene 
Aram  has  not  lost  its  power  in  these  sketches."— JV.  Y.  American. 


J^iss  ^mitxCn  ^obelis,  ^lompletr* 

EMMA,  A  Novel,  by  Miss  Austen,  2  vols. 
SENSE  AND  SENSIBILITY,  2  vols. 
MANSFIELD  PARK, 
PRIDE  AND  PREJUDICE, 
NORTHANGER  ABBEY, 
PERSUASION, 

"  There  are  few  works  of  fiction,  so  acceptable  in  republication  as  the  Nov- 
els of  Miss  Austen. 

"They  never  weary,  their  interest  is  never  lost,  for,  as  in  the  prints  of  Ho- 
garth, we  find  fresh  matter  for  admiration  upon  every  renewal  of  our  ac- 
quaintance. In  her  works  the  scene  is  before  us  with  all  the  reality  of  the 
world,  and,  free  from  the  engrossment  of  acting  a  part  in  it,  we  discover  points 
of  interest  which  a  divided  attention  had  overlooked. 

"  Her  merit  considered,  her  perfection  in  one  style.  Miss  Austen  is  the  worst 
appreciated  Novelist  of  her  time.  The  daartcrly  Review,  (to  its  honor  be  it 
remembered,)  was  the  first  critical  authority  which  did  justice  to  her  merits, 
and  that  after  the  grave  closed  over  her  unconscious  and  modest  genius. 

"  It  is  remarkable  that  Scott,  who  noticed  with  praise  many  inferior  authors, 
never  mentioned  Miss  Austen." — Examiner. 


New  Works,  puljlislied.  toy  Carey,  Lea,  &  Blanchard* 


LIGHTS  AND  SHADOWS  OF  GERMAN  LIFE. 
In  2  Vols.  12mo. 

"  The  pictures  here  given  of  German  life  have  an  interest  which  to  us  is  per- 
fectly irresistible."— SM7irfay  Times. 

"  The  work  under  our  notice  has  great  claims  to  the  consideration  of  every 
reader  who  likes  good  tales,  in  which  he  will  find  every  thing  in  ke<jping."— 
Metropclitan. 

"  These  most  original  stories  are  replete  with  incidents,  scenes,  and  char 
ncters  that  will  dwell  upon  the  mind  they  have  amused ;  some  of  them  have 
the  conciseness,  wit,  and  satirical  point,  of  Voltaire's  sparkling  romance,  but 
without  their  mockery  of  all  that  is  sacred  and  virtuous.  We  rise  from  their 
perusal  with  our  hearts  warmed  for  our  fellow-men,  and  with  our  love  and 
interest  increased  for  this  world."— Cowrt  Magazint. 


THE    LAST  MAN. 

BY  MRS.  SHELLEY,  AUTHOR  OF  FRANKENSTEIN,  &.C.   2  VOLS.  12mO. 


DELAWARE, 
OR,  THE   RUINED  FAMILY. 
A  Novel,  in  2  Vols.  12mo. 

"  Delaware  is  a  work  of  talent  m  every  sense  of  the  word.  The  plot  is  full 
of  interest,  the  characters  are  sketched  with  vitality  and  vigor,  and  the 
style  is  neat  and  flowing  throughout." — Edinburgh  Evening  Post. 

"  Delaware  is  a  tale  of  much  amusement  and  interest.  We  heartily  com- 
mend it  to  our  readers  as  a  very  pleasant  and  very  clever  work." — Lit.  Oa- 
zette. 

"Delaware  is  an  original  novel  by  an  able  man." — Spectator. 
"  The  story  is  well  told,  the  characters  clearly  unfolded,  and  the  conclusion 
natural  and  satisfactory." — Athenxum. 


LONDON  NIGHTS  ENTERTAINMENTS, 
OR,  TALES  AND  CONFESSIONS. 
By  Leitch  Ritchie,  Author  of  Schinderhannes,  &c. 
In  2  Vols.  12mo. 

"  This  work  is  supposed  by  eminent  critics  to  be  the  chef-d'oeuvre  of  the 
author." 

"  Mr.  Ritchie  is  by  far  our  best  writer  of  romantic  and  imaginative  tales," 
was  the  dictum  of  the  Literary  Gazette— and  the  Atlas  pronounces  him  "  the 
Scott  of  the  short,  picturesque,  and  bold  story." 

"  The  power  of  fascinating  the  reader,  of  chaining  him  down,  as  it  were, 
while  his  fancy  is  tormented  by  terrible  imaginings,  is  the  principal  character- 
istic of  Mr.  Leitch  Ritchie's  pictures." — Loudon  Weekly  Review. 


THE  REPEALERS. 
A  Novel.    By  the  Countess  of  Blessington. 
In  2  Vols.  12mo. 

*•  The  Irish  scenes  are  entitled  to  warm  commendation,  they  are  written 
with  equal  good  feeling  and  good  sense  ;  while  Grace  Cassidy  is  a  sweet  and 
touching  portrait."  &c.  &;c — Lit.  Gazette. 


New  Works,  published  by  Carey,  Lea,  &  Blanchard. 


L.ITTERATURE  FRAJVCAISE* 


BIBLIOTHEQUE  CHOISIE  DE  LITTERATURE  FRANCAISE. 
SELECT  LIBRARY 

OF 

MODERN  FRENCH  LITERATURE. 

In  4  volumes,  12mo:  containing^ — 
LES  ECORCHEURS. 
CINQ  MARS. 

PARIS  ET  LES  PARISIENS. 
MExMOIRES  D'UN  APOTHECAIRE. 
HEURES  DU  SOIR, 
LES  ENFANS  D'EDOUARD. 
MINUIT  ET  MIDE,  &c.  &c. 
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THE  DOOMED. 
A  NOVEL.    In  two  A^olumes,  12mo. 


AYESHA,  THE  MAID  OF  KARS. 

BY  MORIER,  AUTHOR  OF  ZOTIRAB,    &C.     2  VOLS.  12mO. 


THE  SUMMER  FETE. 
A  POEM,  WITH  SONGS. 
By  Thomas  Moore,  Esq.  Author  of  Irish  Melodies,  &c. 
"The  description  of  the  Fete  is  in  easy,  graceful,  flowing  verse,  and  the 
songs  with  which  it  is  interspersed  are,  unhke  many  of  tliose  which  that 
gifted  poet  has  published,  unexceptionable  in  their  moral  tendency." — N. 
Y.  Commercial  Advertiser. 

"  Many  of  the  songs  interspersed  are  pretty  and  pleasing,  and  savor  of 
the  usual  richness  of  sentiment  and  luxuriance  of  style  habitual  to  Moore. 
We  can  willingly  recommend  the  work  to  all  ladies,  and  lovers  of  good 
poetry." — American  Sentinel. 

MEN  AND  MANNERS  IN  AMERICA. 
By  Major  Hamilton,  Author  of  Cyril  Thornton,  &c.  2  vols.  12mo. 


CHITTY'S  MEDICAL  JURISPRUDENCE. 
A  valuable  work  for  Lawyers  or  Physicians.    In  royal  8vo. 


New  Works,  published  by  Carey,  Lea,  &  Blanchard. 


THREE  YEARS  IN  THE  PACIFIC,  including  notices  of 
Brazil,  Chili,  Bolivia,  and  Peru.  In  one  vol.  By  an  Offi- 
cer of  the  United  States'  Navy. 

"ITie  work  embraces  copious  descriptions  of  the  countries  visited ;  graphic 
accounts  of  the  state  of  society ;  brief  notices  of  the  history,  state  of  the 
arts,  climate,  and  the  future  prospects  of  those  interesting  parts  of  our  conti- 
nent ;  respecting  which  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  are  supposed  to 
care  much,  but  know  so  little." 

.VFuU  of  novelty  and  valuable  details.  The  American  reader  will  greatly 
add  to  his  fund  of  ideas  concerning  South  America  by  its  perusal." — Chronicle. 

"The  author's  graphic  abilities — the  pure  acquaintance  he  displays  with 
the  Spanish  language,  renders  his  book  at  once  pleasing  and  useful." — Gaz. 

"  Such  contributions  to  our  stock  of  ideas  and  literature,  deserve  a  warmer 
welcome  and  wider  patronage  than  the  common-place  or  extravagant  fictions 
of  the  day." — National  Gazette. 

"Much  new  and  valuable  information,  imbodied  in  excellent  language; 
there  cannot  be  a  moment's  doubt  of  its  popularity." — Jour,  of  Belles  Leltres. 

LETTERS  ON  THE  UNITED  STATES.  Letters  to  a  Gen- 
tleman in  Germany,  written  after  a  trip  from  Philadelphia 
to  Niagara,  edited  by  Dr.  Francis  Lieber,  in  one  vol.  8vo. 

"  The  mingling  of  anecdote,  the  abrupt  breaks,  personal  narration,  illustrative 
comparisons,  and  general  style  of  the  work,  give  it  an  interest  that  will  ensure 
to  the  lK>ok  general  perusal— while  the  philosophical  lone  which  occasionally 
pervades  its  pages  cannot  fail  of  commending  them  to  the  approval  of  the 
reflecting."— ?7.  Oazette. 

"  We  have  read  this  work  with  great  satisfaction  and  interest.  It  abounds 
with  characteristic  anecdotes,  graphic  descriptions,  and  principles  which  do 
honour  to  the  head  and  heart  of  the  author." — JSTat.  Intelligencer. 

'the  style  of  these  Letters  is,  in  general,  very  good  ;  sometimes  poetical  and 
eloquent. 

"Here  is  a  well  written  series  of  Letters,  by  a  learned  German,  who  has 
lived  long  enough  among  us,  it  appears,  to  examine  the  peculiarities  of  our 
government  and  habits,  with  the  impartial  eye  of  a  philosopher." — Baltimore 
paper. 

"  This  is  a  very  agreeable  book— rambling,  sprightly,  anecdotical,  and  withal, 
interspersed  with  much  useful  and  practical  information,  and  keen  and  accurate 
observation." — JVew  York  .American. 

SKETCHES  OF  SOd'OTY  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN  AND 
IRELAND.  By  C.  S.  Stewart,  M.  A.,  Chaplain  of  the 
United  States'  Navy,  author  of"  A  Visit  to  the  South  Seas," 
"  A  Residence  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,"  &c.  In  two  vols. 
13mo. 

"  Some  of  his  sketches  are  beautiful  descriptions ;  others  are  finished  pictures. 
The  charm  of  these  volumes  consists  in  the  distinct  view  which  the  author 
gives  us  of  the  scenery,  the  country,  the  cities  and  towns,  the  aristocracy,  the 
churches, — in  one  word,  the  thousand  particulars,  which,  together,  constitute 
what  is  called  the  state  of  society." — Religious  Telegraph. 

"  We  have  seldom  perused  a  work  with  so  pleasant  an  interest.  The  contents 
are  various  and  racy,  epistolary  transcripts  of  the  author's  mind,  published  just 
as  written,  without  revisions,  and  with  all  the  gloss  and  freshness  of  first  and 
original  impressions  about  them.    The  work  is  full  of  living  pictures." 

"  His  observations  on  men  and  manners,  in  his  description  of  the  different 
scenes  to  which  his  pilgrimage  was  extended,  are  given  in  a  style  of  the  most 
flowing  and  attractive  kind." — JV.  Y.  Courier. 

THIRTY  YEARS'  CORRESPONDENCE,  between  John 
Jebb,  D.  D.  F.  R.  S.,  Bishop  of  Limerick,  Ardfert,  and 
Aghadoe ;  and  Alexander  Knox,  Esq.,  M.  R.  I.  A.  Edited 
by  the  Rev.  Charles  Forster,  B.  D.,  perpetual  curate  of  Ash 
next  Sandwich;  formerly,  domestic  Chaplain  to  Bishop 
Jebb.   In  two  vols.  8vo. 


New  Works,  publislied  toy  Carey,  Lea,  &  Blancliard.* 


BRIDGEWATER  TREATISES. 


This  series  of  Treatises  is  published  under  the  following  circum- 
stances:— 

The  Right  Honorable  and  Rev.  Francis  Henry,  Earl  of  Bridge- 
water,  died  in  the  month  of  February,  1825 ;  he  directed  certain  trus- 
tees therein  named,  to  invest  in  the  pubUc  funds,  the  sum  of  eight 
thousand  pounds  sterling;  this  sum,  with  the  accruing  dividends 
thereon,  to  be  held  at  the  disposal  of  the  President,  for  the  time  being, 
of  the  Royal  Society  of  liondon,  to  be  paid  to  the  person  or  persons 
nominated  by  him.  The  Testator  farther  directed,  that  the  person  or 
persons  selected  by  the  said  President,  should  be  appointed  to  write, 
print  and  publish  one  thousand  copies  of  a  work,  on  the  Power,  Wis- 
dom,  and  Goodness  of  God,  as  manifested  in  tfie  Creation ;  illustra- 
ting such  work,  by  all  reasonable  arguments,  as,  for  instance,  the  va- 
riety  and  formation  of  God's  creatures  in  the  Animal,  Vegetable,  and 
Mineral  Kingdoms ;  the  effect  of  digestion,  and,  tliereby,  of  conver- 
sion ;  the  construction  of  the  hand  of  man,  and  an  infinite  variety  of 
other  arguments  ;  as  also  by  discoveries,  ancient  and  modern,  In  arts, 
sciences,  and  the  whole  extent  of  literature. 

He  desired,  moreover,  that  the  profits  arising  from  the  sale  of  the 
works  so  published,  should  be  paid  to  the  authors  of  the  works. 

The  late  President  of  the  Royal  Society,  Da  vies  Gilbert,  Esq.  re- 
quested the  assistance  of  his  Grace,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
and  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  in  determining  upon  the  best  mode  of 
carrying  into  eflfect,  the  intentions  of  the  Testator.  Acting  with  their 
advice,  and  with  the  concurrence  of  a  nobleman  immediately  connect- 
ed with  the  deceased,  Mr.  Davies  Gilbert  appointed  the  following  eight 
gentlemen  to  write  separate  Treatises  in  the  different  branches  of  the 
subjects  here  stated: — 

I.  The  Adaptation  of  External  Nature  to  the  Moral  and  Intellec- 
tual Constitution  of  Man,  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Chalmers,  D.  D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Divinity  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh. 

n.  The  adaptation  of  External  Nature  to  the  Physical  Condition 
of  Man,  by  John  Kion,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  S.,  Regius  Professor  of  Medicine 
in  the  University  of  Oxford. 

in.  Astronomy  and  General  Physics,  considered  with  reference  to 
Natural  Theology,  by  the  Rev.  Wm.  WheweU,  M.  A.,  F.  R.S.,  Fel- 
low of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 

IV.  The  hand :  its  mechanism  and  vital  endowments  as  evincing 
design,  by  Sir  Charles  Bell,  K.  H.,  F.  R.  S. 

V.  Animal  and  Vegetable  Physiology,  by  Peter  Mark  Roget,  M.  D., 
Fellow  of  and  Secretary  to  the  Royal  Society. 

VI.  Geology  and  Mineralogy,  by  tlie  Rev.  Wm.  Buckland,  D.  D., 
F.  R.  S.,  Canon  of  Christ  Church,  and  Professor  of  Geology  in  the 
University  of  Oxford. 

VII.  The  History,  Habits,  and  Instincts  of  Animals,  by  the  Rev. 
Wm.  Kirby,  M.  A.,  F.  R.  S. 


New  Works,  pu1>lisbed  by  Carey,  Lea,  d&  Blancliard. 


BRIDGEWATER  TREATISES. 


VIII.  Chemistry,  Meteorology,  and  the  Function  of  Digestion,  by 
Wm.  Prout,  M.  D.,F.R.S. 

THE  FOLLOWING  ARE  PUBLISHED. 

ASTRONOMY  AND  GENERAL  PHYSICS,  considered  with 
reference  to  Natural  Theology.  By  the  Rev.  William  Whe- 
WELL,  M.  A.,  Fellow  and  Tutor  of  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge ;  being  Part  III.  of  the  Bridgewater  Treatises  on  the 
Power,  Wisdom,  and  Goodness  of  God,  as  manifested  in  the 
Creation.    In  one  vol.  12mo. 

"  It  is  a  work  of  profound  investigation,  deep  research,  distinguished  alike 
for  the  calm  Christian  spirit  which  breathes  throughout,  and  the  sound,  irre- 
sistible argumentation  which  is  stamped  on  every  page." — Daily  Intelli- 
gencer. 

"  Let  works  like  that  before  us  be  widely  disseminated,  and  the  bold,  active, 
and  ingenious  enemies  of  religion  be  met  by  those,  equally  sagacious,  alert  and 
resolute  and  the  most  timid  of  the  many  who  depend  upoi  the  few,  need  not 
fear  the  host  that  comes  with  subtle  steps  to  'steal  their  faith  away.'  JV.  Y 
.^erican. 

"  That  the  devoted  spirit  of  the  work  is  most  exemplary,  tha*  we  have  here 
and  there  found,  or  fancied,  room  for  cavil,  only  pe<-adventure  because  we  have 
been  nnable  to  follow  the  author  through  the  prodigious  range  of  his  philo- 
sophical survey — and  in  a  word,  that  the  work  before  us  would  have  made  the 
reputation  of  any  other  man,  and  may  well  maintain  even  that  of  Professor 
Whewell." — Metropolitan. 

"  He  has  succeeded  admirably  in  laying  a  broad  foundation,  in  the  light  of 
nature,  for  the  reception  of  the  more  glorious  truths  of  revelation  ;  and  has 
produced  a  work  well  calculated  to  dissipate  the  delusions  of  scepticism  and 
infidelity,  and  to  confirm  the  believer  in  his  faith." — Charleston  Courier. 

"  The  known  talents,  and  high  reputation  of  the  author,  gave  an  earnest  of 
excellence,  and  nobly  has  Mr.  Whewell  redeemed  the  pledge. — In  conclusion, 
we  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  that  the  present  is  one  of  the  best  works  of 
its  kind,  and  admirably  adapted  to  the  end  proposed;  as  such,  we  cordially 
recommend  it  to  our  readers." — London  Lit.  Gazette. 

"  It  is  a  work  of  high  character." — Boston  Recorder. 

A  TREATISE  ON  THE  ADAPTATION  OF  EXTERNAL 
NATURE  TO  THE  PHYSICAL  CONDITION  OF  MAN, 
principally  with  reference  to  the  supply  of  his  wants,  and  the 
exercise  of  his  intellectual  faculties.  By  John  Kidd,  M.  D., 
F.  R.  S.,  Regius  Professor  of  Medicine  in  the  University  of 
Oxford ;  being  Part  II.  of  the  Bridgewater  Treatises  on  the 
Power,  Wisdom,  and  Goodness  of  God,  as  manifested  in  the 
Creation.    In  one  vol.  12mo. 

"  It  is  ably  written,  and  replete  both  with  interest  and  instruction.  The 
diffusion  of  such  works  cannot  fail  to  be  attended  with  the  happiest  effects  in 
justifying  'the  ways  of  God  to  man,'  and  illustrating  the  wisdom  and  good- 
ness of  the  Creator  by  arguments  which  appeal  irresistably  both  to  the  reason 
and  the  feelings.  Few  can  understand  abstract  reasoning,  and  still  fewer  rel- 
ish it,  or  will  listen  to  it :  but  in  this  work  the  purest  morality  and  the  kindli- 
est feelings  are  inculcated  through  the  medium  of  agreeable  and  useful  infor- 
mation."— Bait.  Oaz. 

"  It  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  individual  who  feels  disposed  to  '  vindi- 
cate the  ways  of  God  to  man.'  " — JV.  F.  Com.  Adv. 


New  Works,  published  by  Carey,  Lea,  &  Blanchard. 


BRIDGEWATER  TREATISES. 


CHEMISTRY,  MINERALOGY,  AND  THE  FUNCTIONS 
OF  DIGESTION,  considered  with  reference  to  Natural  The- 
ology, by  William  Prout,  M.  D.  F.  R.  S.,  Fellow  of  the  Royal 
College  of  Physicians,  being  part  eight  of  -the  Bridgewater 
Treatises  on  the  Power,  Wisdom,  and  Goodness  of  God,  as 
manifested  in  the  Creation.    In  1  vol.  12mo. 
"  For  depth  of  investigation,  extent  of  research  and  cogency  of  reasoning, 
this  work  will  not  suffer  in  comparison  with  any  other  of  this  admirable 
series.    The  deductions  from  the  premises  are  strong  and  conclusive,  and 
bear  the  impress  of  a  calm,  philosophic,  and  truly  Christian  spirit.  The 
valuable  scientific  knowledge  that  may  be  derived  from  the  Bridgewater 
Treatises,  independent  of  their  grand  design — the  illustration  of  the  power, 
wisdom,  and  goodness  of  God,  as  manifested  in  the  creation — should  secure 
them  a  wide  circulation." — Ball.  Gazette. 

ON  THE  ADAPTATION  OF  EXTERNAL  NATURE  TO 
THE  MORAL  AND  INTELLECTUAL  CONSTITUTION 
OF  MAN.  By  the  Rev.  Thomas  Chalmers,  D.  D.  ;  being 
Part  I.  of  the  Bridgewater  Treatises  on  the  Power,  Wisdom, 
and  Goodness  of  God,  as  manifested  in  Creation.  In  1  vol.  12mo. 

"  The  volumes  before  us  are  every  way  worthy  of  their  subject.  It 
would  seem  almost  supererogatory  to  pass  any  judgment  on  the  style  of  a 
writer  so  celebrated  as  Dr.  Chalmers.  He  is  well  known  as  a  logician  not 
to  be  baffled  by  any  difficulties ;  as  one  who  boldly  grapples  with  his  theme, 
and  brings  every  energy  of  his  clear  and  nervous  intellect  into  the  field. 
JNo  sophistry  escapes  his  eagle  vision — no  argument  that  could  either 
enforce  or  illustrate  his  subject  is  left  untouched.  Our  literature  owes  a 
deep  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  author  of  these  admirable  volumes." — Lit.  Gaz. 

THE  HAND:  ITS  MECHANISM  AND  VITAL  ENDOW- 
MENTS, AS  EVINCING  DESIGN.  By  Sir  Charles 
Bell,  K.  G.  H.  ;  being  Part  IV.  of  the  Bridgewater  Treatises 
on  the  Power,  Wisdom,  and  Goodness  of  God,  as  manifested 
in  the  Creation.    In  one  vol.  12mo. 

"  In  the  present  treatise  it  is  a  matter  of  the  warmest  satisfaction  to  find 
an  anatomist  of  Sir  Charles  Bell's  great  eminence,  professing  his  contempt 
for  the  late  fashionable  doctrines  of  materialism  held  by  so  many  anato- 
mists, and  now  coming  forward  to  present  the  fruits  of  his  wide  researches 
and  great  ability  in  a  treatise  so  full  of  curious  and  interesting  matter, 
expressly  intended  to  prove,  by  the  examination  of  one  particular  point, 
that  design  which  is  imprest  on  all  parts  of  various  animals  which  in  some 
degree  answer  the  purpose  of  the  Hand  ;  and  has  shown  that  the  hand  is 
not  the  source  of  contrivance,  nor  consequently  of  man's  suijeriority,  as 
some  materialists  have  mamtained. 

"  To  thio  he  has  added  some  very  valuable  remarks,  showing  the  uses  of 
Pain,  and  he  has  illustrated  the  work  with  a  variety  of  the  most  admirable 
and  interesting  wood  cuts." — British  Magazine. 

ANIMAL  AND  VEGETABLE  PHYSIOLOGY,  considered  with 
reference  to  Natural  Theology.  By  Peter  Mark  Roget,  M.  D.  Being 
Treatise  five  of  the  Bridgewater  Series  :  illustrated  with  numerous 
cuts. 


New  Works,  published  by  Carey,  Lea,  &  Blanchard. 


TRAITS  AND  TRADITIONS  OF  POICTUGAL,  collected 
^during  a  residence  in  that  country.   By  Miss  Pardoe.  In 
two  vols.  12mo. 

"  A  very  singular  and  effective  union  of  the  very  best  properties  which  we 
seek  for  in  books  of  travels  on  the  one  hand,  and  in  works  of  the  imagination 
on  the  other." — Monthly  Review. 

"  The  manners  of  Portugal  were  never  before  delineated  with  so  much  truth 
and  vivacity." — Standard. 

THE  POSTHUMOUS  POEI»IS  OF  THE  REV.  GEORGE 
CRABBE,  with  his  Letters  and  Journals,  and  a  Memoir 
of  his  Life.  By  his  Son  and  Executor.  In  two  handsome 
vols. 

"  Thtrt  are  in  my  rteett  at  home  another  Series  of  Stnriet.  in  number  and  quantity  sufficient  for  a 
volume ;  and  as  Ihty  are  much  like  the  former  in  executioru  and  sufficiently  diffident  in  evtnts  and  cha- 
racters, they  may  hereajter,  in  peaceable  times,  be  worth  something  to  you  ;  and  the  more,  ttcaxue  I  shaU, 
vehcUever  is  mortal  of  me,  be  at  rest  in  the  chancel  of  Trowbridge  cAurcA."— Crabbe  to  his  Son. 

"  The  Life  of  Crabbe  will  be  found  far  more  abundant  in  striking  incidents 
and  extraordinary  contrasts  and  reverses,  tban  that  of  almost  any  other  poet 
with  whose  personal  story  we  are  acquainted.  It  will  be  seen  from  his  own 
Diaries,  how  calmly  he  had  tasted,  both  of  the  very  bitterest  adversity— a  des- 
titute and  forlorn  wanderer  about  the  streets  of  London,— and  of  what,  con- 
sidering his  early  position  and  distresses,  may  be  called  splendid  prosperity — the 
honoured  and  admired  friend  of  Burke,  Johnson.  Reynolds,  Thurlow,  Fox— and 
more  recently  of  Scott,  Rogers,  Moore,  &c.  &c.— the  courted  guest  of  the  noblest 
mansions— placed  at  length,  by  the  universal  consent  of  all  capable  of  appre- 
ciating literary  merit,  on  an  elevation  second  to  no  one  among  his  contem- 
poraries." 

THE  BOOK  OF  SCIENCE :  a  familiar  introduction  to  the 
Principles  of  Natural  Philosophy,  adapted  to  the  compre- 
hension of  Young  People ;  comprising  Treatises  on  all  the 
Sciences.  Illustrated  by  many  curious  and  interesting 
Experiments  and  Observations,  and  including  Notices  of 
the  most  recent  Discoveries.  Embellished  Avith  upwards 
of  two  hundred  Engravings  on  wood. 

"  This  work  is  beautifully  got  up,  and  elegantly  embellished  with  exceedingly 
clever  wood  cuts:  it  is  published  with  the  design  of  affording  to  youthful  minds 
a  brief,  but  yet  perspicuous,  exhibition  of  the  first  principles  of  the  physical 
cciences,  including  accounts  of  the  most  important  discoveries  recently  made  in 
'  the  several  departments  of  natural 'knowledge.  All  this  the  book  professes  to 
do,  and  does  it  well.  We  think  by  the  easy  and  familiar  tone  that  it  adopts  in 
the  descriptions,  it  will  become  a  great  favourite  with  youth." — Metrop.  Mag. 

"  Here  is  a  familiar  introduction  to  the  principles  of  natural  philosophy.  We 
have  carefully  perused  every  page,  and  every  page  has  afforded  us  proofs  of 
accuracy  and  observation  which  we  hardly  expected.  There  cannot  be  a  more 
delightful  present  to  the  young,  or  anything  better  calculated  to  refresh  the 
memories  of  the  old.  It  is  the  book,  of  all  others,  to  teach  young  people  how 
to  think."— JVe?o  jMonthhj  Magazine. 

"  The  present  little  volume  is  so  written,  that,  with  moderate  attention,  a 
youth  may  obtain  a  very  clear  knowledge  of  each  branch  of  natural  philosophy. 
The  volume  is  printed  uniformly  with  the  'Boy's  Own  Book,'  and  may  be  said  to 
be  a  suitable  successor  to  that  little  work.  The  compiler  deserves  great  credit 
for  the  arrangement,  and  also  for  the  simple,  at  the  same  time,  correct  and 
familiar  style  of  conveying  information.  We  cannot  do  better  than  recommend 
parents  to  .present  to  their  children  this  elegant  little  production."— Hep ertory 
of  Jlrts. 

"Our  readers  will,  doubtless,  remember  the  'Boy's  Own  Book;'  the  present 
volume  is  a  sequel  to  that  amusing  little  work.  It  is  got  up  with  extreme  care, 
and  illustrated  with  an  immense  number  of  figures,  of  extraordinary  neatness 
of  execution."— j3«;as. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  IRELAND.  By  Thomas  Moore.  Vol.1. 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  Vol.  IV.  Being  a  continuation 
of  Mackintosh. 


New  Works,  publi^ied  toy  Carey,  Lea,  &.  Blauchard* 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  CHRISTIAN  PHILOSOPHY. 

Containing  the  Doctrines,  Duties,  Admonitions,  and  Consola- 
tions, of  the  Christian  Religion.  By  John  Burns,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  S. 
From  the  4th  London  edition.    In  1  vol.  12mo. 

"  The  author  has  unfolded  the  principles  of  Christianity  with  much  candor 
and  correctness  ;  he  has  explained  our  personal  and  relative  duties  in  a  just 
and  philosophical  manner;  and,  by  th6  ease  and  unafiected  simplicity  of  his 
style,  has  rendered  his  treatise  pleasing  as  well  as  instructive.— His  remarks 
on  brotherly  love,  in  that  part  of  his  work  embracing  the  relative  duties,  pos- 
sess much  to  interest." — 1  Traveller. 

"  The  book  has  a  high  reputation  in  Great  Britain,  and  there  is  no  being 
capable  of  reflection,  who  has  not  need,  and  upon  whom  it  is  not  incumbent, 
to  obtain  light,  and  bestow  concern  on  the  topics  which  are  here  discussed. 

"Every  page  that  directs  the  mind  to  what  should  be  deemed  the  main  inter- 
est of  life,  and  causes  operative  thought  in  ulterior  destinies,  is  of  inestima- 
ble value." — J^at.  Oaiette. 


PICTURES  OF  PRIV^ATE  LIFE. 

BY   SARAH  STICKNEY. 

In  1  neat  18mo.  vol. 

"The  publishers  deserve  the  thanks  of  the  lovers  of  pure,  chastened  and 
profitable  fiction  for  their  reprint  of  this  charming  little  work.  It  cannot  fail 
to  become  as  popular  here  as  it  already  is  in  England.  It  is  a  collection  of  tales 
and  sketches,  designed  to  impress  upon  the  mind  useful  lessons  of  piety,  virtue 
and  wisdom.  It  is  written  in  a  style  of  unusual  excellence — masculinfe  in  its 
vigor,  yet  light  and  playful  in  its  delicacy,  and  embodies  several  .scenes  of 
pathos  and  feeling  of  which  Sterne  or  M'Kenzie  might  be  proud. — To  these 
vv  hose  taste  has  not  been  perverted  by  the  flashy  wit  artd  nauseous  sentiinetit- 
ality  of  modern  fiction,  we  commend  the  immediate  purchase  of  this  delight- 
ful little  \\ov\i.'"— Daily  Intelligencer. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  YEAR. 

THOUGHTS  IN  VERSE  FOR  SUND.VYS  AND  HOLY  DAYS  THUOL'OHOCT  THE  YEAR. 
"  In  quietness  and  in  confidence  shall  be  ymir  strength." — Isaiah  xsx.  15. 

First  American  from  the  25lh  London  edition,  with  an  introduction  and 
notes  by  Bishop  Doaneyof  New  Jersey.    In  a  handsome  vol. 

"  It  may  be  read  for  purposes  of  devotion  by  Christians  of  whatever  deno- 
mination, with  pleasure  and  profit." — Chrvitian  Watchman. 

"  These  verses  were  singularly  beautiful  in  conception  and  composition,  and 
breathe  the  purest  poetic  taste  and  the  most  sincere  and  fervent  spirit  of 
piety." —  Gazette. 

"  The  work  should  be  in  the  hands  of  all  who  value  taste,  genius  and 
piety." — Com.  Intelligencer. 

"  We  have  rarely,  perhaps  never,  met  a  poetical  volume,  more  appropriate 
to  family  devotion." — U.  S.  Oazcttc. 

"  As  a  book  for  family  reading— whether  as  an  exercise  of  taste  or  devotion 
— we  know  of  few  that  can  surpass  it." — Gazette. 

A  few  copies  have  been  bound  in  beautiful  embossed  leather,  with  gilt 
edges,  making  a  very  desirable  volume  for  a  present. 

A  GUIDE  TO  AN  IRISH  GENTLEMAN  IN  HIS  SEARCH 
FOR  A  RELIGION. 
By  the  Rev.  Mortimer  O'Sullivan,  A.  M. 
1  vol.  12mo.    Being  an  answer  to  Moore's  work. 


FAMILY  CABINET  ATLAS. 


The  family  CABINET  ATLAS,  constructed  upon  an  ori- 
ginal PLAN :  Being-  a  Companion  to  the  Encyclopaedia  Ameri- 
cana, Cabinet  Cyclopaedia,  Family  Library,  Cabinet  Library,  &c. 

This  Atlas  comprises,  in  a  volume  of  the  Family  Library  size,  nearly  JOO  Maps 
and  Tables,  which  present  equal  to  Fifty  Thousand  JVames  of  Places ;  a  body 
of  information  three  times  as  extensive  as  that  supplied  by  the  generality  of 
Qiiarto  Atlases. 

Opinions  of  the  Public  Journals. 

"This  beautiful  and  most  useful  little  volume,"  says  the  Literary  Gazette, 
"  is  a  perfect  picture  of  c'lCgance,  containing  a  vast  suni  of  geographical  infor- 
mation. A  more  instructive  little  present,  or  a  gift  better  calculated  to  be  long 
preserved  and  cfcen  referred  to,  could  not  be  offered  to  favored  youth  of  either 
sex.  Its  chtapness,  we  must  add,  is  another  recommendation  ;  for,  although 
this  elegant  publication  contains  100  beautiful  engravings,  it  is  issued  at  a  price 
that  can  he  no  obstacle  to  its  being  procured  by  every  parent  and  friend  to  youth." 

"  This  Atlas  far  surpasses  any  thing  of  the  kind  which  we  have  seen,  and  is 
made  to  suit  the  popular  libraries  which  Dr.  Lardner  and  Mr.  Murray  are  now 
sending  into  every  family  in  the  empire."— JWb?U/i/^  Review. 

"  Its  very  ingenious  method  of  arrangement  secures  to  the  geographical  stu- 
dent the  information  for  which  hitherto  he  has  been  obliged  to  resort  to  works 
of  the  largest  dimensions." — ^thenaum. 

"  This  miniature  and  beautiful  Atlas  is  likely  to  supersede,  for  general  pur- 
poses, maps  of  a  more  expensive  and  elaborate  character.  It  appears  to  us  to 
answer  the  double  purpose  of  exercising  the  attention,  while  it  imprints  all  that 
is  important  in  Geography  on  the  memory." — Atlas. 

"  Tlie  workmansliip  is  among  the  best  of  the  kind  we  have  ever  witnessed." — 
Examiner. 

"  It  contains  all  the  information  to  be  derived  ft-om  the  most  expensive  and 
unwieldy* Atlas. "—Tor/c  Courant. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  IN  ENGLAND,  IN 
1688 :  comprising  a  View  of  the  Reign  of  James  IL,  from  his 
accession,  to  the  Enterprise  of  the  Prince  of  Orange.  By  the 
late  Right  Hon.  Sir  James  Mackintosh.  And  completed  to 
the  Settlement  of  the  Crown,  by  the  Editor.  To  which  is  pre- 
fixed, a  Notice  of  the  Life,  Writings,  and  Speeches  of  Sir 
James  Mackintosh.    In  1  vol.  8vo. 

"  We  are  at  length  gratified  by  the  appearance  of  this  long-looked  for  work 
from  the  pen  of*Sir  James  Mackintosh.  Highly  gifted  by  nature,  deeply  read, 
and  singularly  accomplished,  the  view  of  one  of  the  most  memorable  epochs  in 
English  history  could  not  have  been  undertaken  by  any  man  of  a  capacity  to  do 
it  justice  in  every  respect,  superior  to  this  eminent  individual."— Xit.  Gazette. 

"In  every  page  we  perceive  the  anxiety  of  the  historian  to  hold  the  ba- 
lance of  justice  vAlh  unfaltering  liand,  and  to  watch  its  slightest  vibrations." 
— Athencenm. 

"The  Sequel  is  highly  honourable  to  the  industry  and  talents  of  its  author; 
and  die  Prefatory  Memoir  is  very  well  Avritlcn.  Allogedier,  the  voliime 
possesses  a  sterling  character,  too  rare  at  this  period  of  evanescent  publica- 
tions."— Lit.  Gazette. 

LIFE  OF  THE  REV.  GEORGE  CRABBE,  LL.  B.,  with  his 
Letters  and  Journals,  together  with  his  Posthumous  Poems. 
I    Edited  by  his  Son.    In  2  neat  volumes. 


New  WorkS)  publislLed  "by  Carey,  Lea,  «fc  Blancliard* 


Moore's  New  Work. 


TRAVELS  OF  AN  IRISH  GENTLEMAN, 

IN  SEARCH  OF  A  RELIGION. 

With  Notes  and  Illustrations.   By  the  Editor  of  Captain  Rock's 
Memoirs.    In  1  vol.  12mo. 

"  Considering  the  circumstances  under  which  these  volumes  are  given  to  the 
public,  we  consider  their  contents  as  amongst  »he  most  interesting  records  of 
which  the  assertion  of  the  human  mind  ever  formed  the  iheme.'"— Monthly  Re- 
view. 

"  The  masterly  manner  in  which  Mr.  Moore  has  brought  together  his  argu- 
ments, the  great  extent  and  minuteness  of  his  researches  into  ancient  author- 
ities, his  intimacy  with  the  customs  and  traditions  of  other  times,  and  nis 
close  and  critical  knowledge  of  the  ancient  languages,  will  surprise  tne  rea- 
der of  his  Travels,  who  may  have  measured  his  talents  by  his  songs."— .Amer- 
ican Sentinel. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  FLOWERS. 
With  coloured  plates:  elegantly  bound,  with  gilt  edges:  a  beau- 
tiful volume  for  a  present. 


SISMONDI'S  HISTORY  OF  THE  FALL  OF  THE 
ROMAN  EMPIRE: 

COMPRISING  A  VIEW  OF  THE  INVASION  OF  THE  BARBARIANS. 


THE  INFIRMITIES  OF  GENIUS, 

Illustrated  by  referring  the  anomalies  in  the  literary  character, 
to  the  habits  and  constitutional  peculiarities  of  Men  of  Genius. 
By  R.  R.  Madden,  Esq.    In  2  vols.  12mo. 

"  Tl)is  is  a  very  valuable  and  interesting  work,  full  of  new  views  and  curi 
ous  deductions  ;  beginning  with  general  remarks  on  the  influence  of  literary 
habits,  on  the  constitution,  and  thence  proceeding  to  make  the  theory  more 
actual  by  its  application  to  particular  instances. 

"  His  physical  biographies,  if  we  may  so  term  them,  of  Burns,  Cowper,  By- 
ron, and  Scott,  are  of  a  very  curious  and  novel  kind  ;  written  with  equal  feel- 
ing and  observation.  He  traces  Cowper's  malady  to  its  true  source,  monoma- 
nia on  religious  subjects;  and  the  tone  of  the  remarks  is  at  once  so  just  and 
so  candid,  that  we  cannot  do  better  than  give  a  brief  portion." — Lit.  Gazette. 


THE  LIFE  OF  PRINCE  TALLEYRAND. 
Accompanied  by  a  Portrait.    In  1  volume,  8vo. 

"  How  could  the  work  be  otlierwise  than  interesting,  when  it  traces  the  career  of  a  atalesman,  who, 
thouf^h  now  in  his  eighty-first  year,  h.is  conmiandins;  influence  in  every  Kuropean  cabinet,  uho  .icquired 
power  under  the  French  monarchy,  and  retained  it  under  the  Republic,  the  Directory,  the  Consulate,  the 
Empire,  and  the  Uynasly  of  Artuis  a:id  Orleans?  ' — Athcnxiim, 


New  Works,  published  by  Carey,  Lea,  Blaucliard* 


THE  PREMIUM, 

A  PRESENT  FOR  ALL  SEASONS : 

Consisting  of  elegant  selections  from  British  and  American 
writers  of  the  19th  century.  In  one  small  neat  volume,  ele- 
gantly bound  in  morocco ;  with  engravings,  by  Ellis,  from  de- 
signs by  Westall  and  Richter. 

This  work  particularly  commends  itself  to  school  teachers,  pa- 
rents, and  others,  who  may  be  in  search  of  a  volume  to  pre- 
sent to  either  sex. 

"  A  delightful  little  bouquet  of  '  elegant  extracts,'  from  the  best  writers  of 
prose  and  poetry  in  Great  Britain  and  America.  The  premiums  would  be  a 
pretty  present  for  young  ladies,  or  students,  emulous  to  be  noticed  or  reward- 
ed."—dentine/.  . 

"  It  is  a  collection,  or  rather  let  us  say,  a  selection  of  pieces  in  prose  and 
verse,  that  have  real  merit,  with  reference  both  to  style  and  sentiment.  They 
are  choice,  and  will  be  useful  to  improve  the  taste  and  strengthen  the  morals. 
The  author  has  done  a  good  work,  and  those  who  wish  to  give  the  most  de- 
serving a  beautiful  and  a  useful  '  premium,'  will  find  the  work  to  which  we 
refer  altogether  suitable."— ?7.  S.  Gazette. 

"  Carey,  Lea  &  Blanchard  have  given  us  a  choice  selection  of  gems,  from 
the  best  popular  writers  of  the  day,  under  the  above  title.  It  contains  arti- 
cles from  the  pens  of  Croley,  Wilson,  Byron,  Mary  Howitt,  Mrs.  Hemans, 
Moore,  Hood,  Dr.  Bird,  Campbell,  Manning,  Irving,  Webster,  Sprague,  Brain- 
ing, Percival,  &c.  The  volume  is  a  pleasant  one,  and  the  selections  such  as 
their  respective  authors  have  no  need  to  be  ashamed  of."— JVT.  Y.  Com.  Adver- 
tiser. 

"  This  is  a  neat  volume  composed  of  extracts  from  the  celebrated  writers  of 
the  present  century.  The  selections  are  admirably  made,  and  the  work  is 
got  up  with  unusual  elegance.  The  binding  is  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the 
skill  which  has  been  attained  in  this  important  department  of  book-making. 
The  volume  is  one  of  rare  beauty,  and  constitutes  a  cheap,  elegant,  and  ap- 
propriate present." — Daily  Intelligencer. 

"  A  very  neat  and  instructive  present  for  youth  at  all  seasons."— JVat.  Qaz. 


A  TREATISE  ON  ASTRONOMY. 

BY  SIR  JOHN  F.  W.  HERSCHEL,  F.  R.  S.  &C. 

In  1  vol.  12mo. 

"  The  present  treatise  is  in  no  wise  inferior  to  its  predecessor :  it  is  charac- 
terized by  the  same  agreeable  and  elegant  style,  the  same  facility  of  illustra- 
tion— added  to  which  it  possesses  unrivalled  precision  and  accuracy  of  de- 
monstration. Avoiding,  therefore,  the  abstruse  niceties  and  the  transcendental 
mathematics  of  the  subject,  the  author  has  nevertheless  produced  a  volume 
calculated,  we  are  fully  persuaded,  to  impress  upon  his  readers  the  magnitude 
and  importance  of  the  science,  and  to  initiate  them  in  no  mean  degree  into 
its  mysteries." — Lit.  Gazette. 


J^emoirjs  oi  tfir  atourt 

OF  KING  CHARLES  THE  FIRST. 
By  Lucy  Aikin.    In  Two  Volumes,  8vo. 


New  Works,  publighed  by  Carey,  Lea,  A;  Blaucbard* 


TALES  AND  CONVERSATIONS, 

OR,  THE  NEW  CHILDREN'S  FRIEND. 

By  Mrs.  Markham,  Author  of  the  Histories  of  England  and 
France.    In  2  small  volumes. 

"  We  conscientiously  recommend  Mrs.  Markham  to  our  reader*."— lit. 
Oazette. 

"  These  volumes  contain  excellent  instruction  in  a  very  agreeable  form."— 

Spectator. 

"  We  have  two  neat  volumes,  containing  a  series  of  Dialogues,  by  Mrs. 
Markham,  designed  for  the  improvement  of  young  people.  We  have  examin- 
ed them  carefully,  and  can  say  that  we  think  them  well  adapted  to  the  purpose 
of  the  author.  They  are  sufficiently  simple  to  be  understood  by  boys  and  girls 
who  have  just  begun  to  take  to  their  books ;  they  convey  lessons  well  worth 
the  study  of  all  who  are  yet  classed  among  young  people;  and  they  are  inter- 
esting enough  to  secure  the  attention  of  those  whom  they  are  designed  to  in- 
struct."— Chronicle. 


MRS.  TROLLOPE'S  BELGIUM  AND  WESTERN  GERMANY. 

INCLUDING  VISITS  TO  BADEN-BADEN,  WEISBADEN,  CASSEL, 
HANOVER,  &LC.  &LC.     IN  1  VOL. 
"  We  have  pleasure  in  saying,  that  we  think  her  style  considerably  strength- 
ened and  improved  since  her  'Tour  in  America." — Quarterly  Review. 

MEMOIRS  OF  CELEBRATED  WOMEN  OF  ALL 
COUNTRIES. 

BY  THE  DUCHESS  d'aBRANTES. 


ON  THE  PENITENTIARY  SYSTEM 

IN  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

AND  ITS  APPLICATION  IN  FRANCE: 

With  an  Appendix  on  Penal  Codes,  and  Statistical  Notes.  By 
G.  De  Beaumont  and  A.  De  Toqueville,  Counsellors  in  the 
Royal  Court  of  Paris,  and  Members  of  the  Historical  Society 
of  Pennsylvania.  Translated  from  the  French  :  vi^ith  an  in- 
troduction, notes,  and  additions.  By  Francis  Leiber.  In  1 
vol.  8vo. 

"  The  commissioners  appear  to  have  pursued  their  researches  with  much 
industry  and  intelligence,  and  to  have  rendered  themselves  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  the  subject." 

"The  translation  of  the  work  could  not  have  been  committed  to  better 
hands  than  Mr.  Leiber's,  and  with  his  notes  and  additions,  it  forms  one  of 
the  best  practical  treatises  extant  on  the  causes  and  prevention  of  crime. 
We  shall  probably  have  occasion  to  recur  again  to  this  valuable  work.''— Bait. 
.American. 


HISTORY  OF  SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL. 

Complete,  in  5  vols.  12mo. 

"  A  work  unequalled  in  modern  English  historical  literature." — Athenaum. 
I  ^ 


NOTES  ON  ITALY,  during  the  years  1829-30.  By  Rembrandt 
Peale.    In  1  vol.  8vo. 

"This  artist  will  gratify  all  reasonable  expectation;  he  is  neither  ostenta- 
tious, nor  dogmatical,  nor  too  minute  ;  he  is  not  a  partisan  nor  a  carper  ;  he  ad- 
mires without  servility,  he  criticises  without  malevolence;  his  frankness  and 
good  humor  give  an  agreeable  color  and  effect  to  all  his  decisions,  and  the  object 
of  them  ;  his  book  leaves  a  useful  general  idea  of  the  names,  works,  and  deserts 
of  the  great  masters;  it  is  an  instructive  and  entertaining  index." — JVa£.  Oaz. 

"  We  have  made  a  copious  extract  in  preceding  columns  from  this  interesting 
work  of  our  countryman,  Rembrandt  Peale,  recently  published.  It  has  received 
high  commendation  from  respectable  sources,  which  is  justified  by  the  portions 
we  have  seen  extracted." — Commercial  Advertiser. 

"  Mr.  Peale  must  be  allowed  the  credit  of  candor  and  entire  freedom  from  affec- 
tation in  the  judgments  he  has  passed.  At  the  same  time,  we  should  not  omit  to 
notice  the  variety,  extent,  and  minuteness  of  his  examinations.  No  church, 
gallery,  or  collection,  was  passed  by,  and  most  of  the  individual  pictures  are 
separately  and  carefully  noticed." — Am.  Quarterly  Review. 

MEMOIRS  OF  THE  LIFE  of  SIR  WALTER  RALEGH,  with 
some  account  of  tlie  Period  in  which  he  lived.  By  Mrs.  A.  T. 
Thomson.    With  a  portrait. 

"Such  is  the  outline  of  a  life,  which,  in  Mrs  Thomson's  hands,  is  a  mine  of  in- 
terest ;  from  the  first  page  to  the  last  the  attention  is  roused  and  sustained,  and 
while  we  approve  the  manner,  we  still  more  applaud  the  spirit  in  which  it  is 
executed." — Literary  Gazette. 

"  In  all  respects  a  most  appropriate  volume  for  the  Cabinet  Library.  We 
shall  take  an  opportunity  in  another  notice,  to  give  some  of  the  many  interest- 
ing passages  in  the  volume  that  offer  themselves  for  quotation." — JV.  Y.  Amer. 

"  1  he  book  is  unquestionably  the  best  Life  of  Ralegh  that  has  ever  been 
written."— 

"This  is  a  piece  of  biography  which  combines  the  fascinations  of  romance 
with  the  deeper  interest  that  attaches  to  historical  narrative."— 5outA.  Patriot. 


ELEGANT  LIBRARY  EDITIONS 

OF  THE  FOLLOWING  WORKS. 


WORKS  OF  JOANNA  BAILLIE.    Complete  in  1  volume  8vo. 


WORKS  OF  HENRY  FIELDING.  In  2  vols.  8vo.,  with  a  por- 
trait. 

WORKS  OF  TOBIAS  SMOLLETT.    In  2  volumes  8vo.,  with 
a  portrait. 


The  HISTORY  of  the  RISE  and  PROGRESS  of  the 
UNITED  STATES  of  NORTH  AMERICA.  By  James 
Graham.    In  2  vols.  8vo. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


MILITARY  MEMOIRS  of  the  DUKE  of  WELLINGTON. 
By  Capt.  Moyle  Sherer,  Author  of  Recollections  of  the 
Peninsula.    In  2  vols.  18mo. 

"  The  tone  of  feeling  and  reflection  which  pervades  the  work  is  in  the  charac- 
teristic mood  of  the  writer,  considerate,  ardent,  and  chivalrous ;  his  principles, 
as  might  be  expected,  are  sound  and  independent,  and  his  language  is  frequently 
rich  in  those  beauties  which  distinguish  his  previous  writings.  To  us  it  appears 
a  work  which  will  not  discredit  its  illustrious  subject." — United  Seroice  Journal. 

THE  COMPLETE  POETICAL  WORKS  OF  JOANNA 
BAILLIE.    1  vol.  8vo. 

This  edition  corresponds  with  the  Library  Editions  of  Byron,  Scott,  Moore,  Sec. 

"  Miss  Baillie's  Plays  on  the  Passions  have  been  long  known  as  among  the 
best  in  the  language.  No  one  who  reads  them  can  entertain  a  dou))t  of  the  char- 
acter of  the  writer's  affections.  Such  works  could  never  have  been  dictated  by 
a  cold  heart." — Christian  Examiner. 

"  We  are  among  the  most  earnest  admirers  of  her  genius,  her  literary  attain- 
ments and  skill,  her  diction,  her  success,  her  moral  designs,  and  her  personal 
worth.  Some  of  her  tragedies  have  deservedly  passed  into  the  stock  of  the  prin- 
cipal British  and  American  theatres.  They  are  express  developments  and  de- 
lineations of  the  passions,  marked  by  a  deep  insight  into  human  nature,  great 
dramatic  power  of  treatment,  a  fertile  spirit  of  poetry,  and  the  loftiest  an,d 
purest  moral  sentiment." — JVational  Gazette. 

TREATISE  ON  CLOCK  and  WATCHMAKING,  Theoretical 
and  Practical.  By  Thomas  Reid,  Edinburj^h  Honorary  Mem- 
ber of  the  Worshipful  Company  of  Clock-Makers,  London. 
Royal  8vo.    Illustrated  by  numerous  Plates. 

GEOLOGICAL  MANUAL.  By  H.  T.  De  la  Beche.  In  8vo. 
with  numerous  wood-cuts. 

"  A  work  of  first-rate  importance  in  the  science  to  which  it  relates,  and  which 
must  henceforth  take  its  place  in  the  library  of  every  student  in  Geology." — 
Phil.  Masrazine. 

"  Mr.  De  la  Beche's  Geological  Manual  is  the  first  and  best  work  of  the  kind, 
and  he  has  performed  his  task  with  a  perfect  knowledge  of  all  that  has  been 
ascertained  in  Geology,  and  with  considerable  judgment  and  taste  in  the  man- 
ner of  doing  it.  So  much  geological  science  was  never  before  compressed  in  so 
small  a  space." — Spectator. 

HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND,  by  Sir  James  Mackintosh.  Octavo 
edition. 

The  first  volume  of  this  edition  will  contain  the  same  matter  as  the  first 
three  volumes  of  the  18mo.  edition. 

A  COLLECTION  OF  COLLOQUIAL  PHRASES,  on  every 
subject  necessary  to  maintain  Conversation,  the  whole  so  dis- 
posed as  considerably  to  facilitate  the  acquisition  of  the  Italian 
language.    By  an  Italian  Gentleman.    1  vol.  18mo. 

NOVELLE  ITALIANE.— Stories  from  Italian  Writers,  with  a 
literal,  interlinear  translation  on  Locke's  plan  of  Classical 
Instruction,  illustrated  with  Notes.  First  American  from  the 
last  London  edition,  with  additional  translations  and  notes. 


THE  PSOPZiE'S  I.IBRARY. 


"  The  editors  and  publishers  should  receive  the  thanks  of  the  present 
generation,  and  the  gratitude  of  posterity,  for  being  the  first  to  prepare  in 
this  language  what  deserves  to  be  entitled  not  the  ENCYCLOPEDIA 
AMERICANA,  but  the  people's  library." — A''.  Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer. 


Just  Published,  by  Carey,  Lea,  and  Blanchard, 

And  sold  in  Philadelphia  by  E.  L.  Carey  <^  A.  Hart ;  in  New- York  by 
G.^C.^  H.  Carvill ;  in  Boston  by  Carter  ^  Hendee ;  in  Baltimore  by  E. 
J.  Coale,  ^  W.  ^  J.  Neal ;  in  Washington  by  Thompson  ^  Homans ;  in 
Richmond  by  J.  H.  Nash;  in  Savannah  by  W.  T.  Williams;  in  Charleston 
by  W.  H.  Berretl ;  in  New-Orleans  by  W.  M'Kean ;  in  Mobile  by  Odiorne 
(f-  Smith  ;  and  by  the  principal  booksellers  throughout  the  Union. 


THE 

ENCYCLOPiEDIA  AMERICANA : 

A 

POPULAR  DICTIONARY 

OF 

ARTS,  SCIENCES,  LITERATURE,  HISTORY,  AND  POLITICS, 

BROOGHT  DOWN  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME,  AND   INCLUDING  A  COPIOUS 
COLLECTION  OF  ORIGINAL  ARTICLES  IN 

AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY: 
On  the  basis  of  the  Seventh  Edition  of  the  German 

CONVERSATIONS-LEXICON. 

Edited  by  FRANCIS  LIEBER, 

ASSISTED  BY 

EDWARD  WIGGLESWORTH  and  T.  G.  BRADFORD,  EsaRS. 

IN  THIRTEENLARGE  VOLUMES,  OCTAVO,  PRICE  TO  SUBSCRIBERS, 
BOUND  IN  CLOTH,  TWO  DOLLARS  AND  A  HALF  EACH. 

EACH  VOLUME  WILL  CONTAIN  BETWEEN  600  AND  700  PAGES. 


"THE  WORLD-RENOWNED  CONVERSATIONS-LEXICON."— JS<Zin6itr£'A 
Review.  j 

"  To  supersede  cumbrous  Encyclopcedias,  and  put  within  the  reach  of  the  poor- 
est man,  a  complete  library,  equal  to  about  forty  or  fifty  g;ood-sized  octavos,  em-'^ 
bracing  every  possible  subject  of  interest  to  the  number  of  20,(J00  m  all— provided 'fl 
he  can  spare  either  from  his  earnings  or  his  extravagancies,  tvjenty  cents  a  week, 
for  three  years,  a  library  so  contrived,  as  to  be  equally  suited  to  the  learnec*  and 
the  unlearned,— the  mechanic— the  merchant,  and  the  professional  man."— JV.  Y. 
Courier  and  Inquirer. 

"  The  reputation  of  this  valuable  work  has  augmented  with  each  volume ;  and 
if  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  press,  uttered  from  all  quarters,  be  true,  which 
in  this  instance  happens  to  be  the  case,  it  is  indeed  one  of  the  best  of  publica- 
tions. It  should  be  in  the  possession  of  every  intelligent  man,  as  it  is  a  library 
in  itself,  comprising  an  immense  mass  of  lore  upon  almost  every  possible  sub- 
ject, and  in  the  cheapest  possible  form." — JV.  Y.  Mirror. 


ENCYCLOPEDIA  AMERICAJVA. 


"  Witnesses  from  every  p.nrt  of  the  country  concurred  in  declaring  that  the 
EncycloprRdia  Americana  was  in  a  fair  way  to  degrade  the  dignity  of  learning, 
and  especially  the  learning  of  Encyclopaedias,  by  making  it  too  cheap — that  the 
miiltitiidoK  of  ail  classes  were  infatuated  with  it  in  saying  in  so  many  words 
from  the  hishest  to  the  lowest.  '  the  more  we  see  of  the  work  the  better  we  like 
it.'  " — JV*  Y.  Courier  and  Inquirer. 

"  The  articles  in  the  present  volume  appear  to  us  to  evince  the  same  ability 
and  research  which  gained  so  favorable  a  reception  for  the  work  at  its  com- 
mencement. The  ..Appendix  to  the  volume  now  before  us,  containing  an  account 
of  the  Indian  Lanffunn-as  of  America,  must  prove  highly  interesting  to  the  reader 
in  this  country;  and  it  is  at  once  remarkable  as  a  specimen  of  history  and  phi- 
lology. The  work  altogether,  we  may  again  be  jiermitted  to  observe,  reflects 
distinguished  credit  upon  the  literary  and  scientific  character,  as  well  as  the 
scholarship  of  our  country." — Charleston  Courier. 

"The  copious  information  which  this  work  affords  on  American  subjects, 
fully  justifies  its  titie  of  an  American  Dictionary;  while  at  the  same  time  the 
extent,  variety,  and  felicitous  disposition  of  its  topics,  make  it  the  most  conve- 
nient and  satisfactory  Encycloptedia  that  we  have  ever  seen." — JsTationalJoumal. 

"  If  the  succeeding  volumes  shall  equal  in  merit. the  one  before  us,  we  may 
confidently  anticipate  for  the  work  a  reputation  and  usefulness  which  ought  to 
secure  for  it  the  most  flattering  encouragement  and  patronage." — Federal  Gazette. 

"  The  variety  of  topics  is  of  course  vast,  and  they  are  treated  in  a  manner 
which  is  at  once  so  full  of  information  and  so  interesting,  that  the  work,  instead 
of  hf^ing  merely  referred  to,  might  be  regularly  perused  with  as  much  pleasure  as 
profit." — Baltimore  American. 

"  We  view  it  as  a  publication  worthy  of  the  age  and  of  the  country,  and  can- 
not but  believe  the  discrimination  of  our  countrymen  will  sustain  the  publish- 
ers, and  well  reward  them  for  this  contribution  to  American  Literature." — Bal- 
timore Patriot. 

"  It  reflects  the  greatest  credit  on  those  who  have  been  concerned  in  its  pro- 
duction, and  promises,  in  a  variety  of  respects,  to  be  the  best  as  well  as  the  most 
compendious  dictionary  of  the  arts,  sciences,  history,  politics,  biography,  &;c. 
which  has  yet  been  compiled.  The  style  of  the  portion  we  have  read  is  terse 
and  perspicuous;  and  it  is  really  curious  how  so  much  scientific  and  other  in- 
formation could  have  been  so  satisfactorily  communicated  in  such  brief  limits." 
— JV.  Y.  Evening  Post. 

"  A  compendious  library,  and  invaluable  book  of  reference." — JV.  Y.  American. 

"Those  who  can,  by  any  honest  modes  of  economy,  reserve  the  sum  of  two 
dollars  and  fifty  cents  quarterly,  from  their  family  expenses,  may  pay  for  this 
work  as  fast  as  it  is  published  ;  and  we  confidently  believe  that  they  will  find  at 
the  end  that  they  never  purchased  so  much  general,  practical,  useful  information 
at  so  cheap  a  rate." — Journal  of  Education. 

"  If  the  encouragement  to  the  publishers  should  correspond  with  the  testimony 
in  favor  of  their  enterprise,  and  the  beautiful  and  faithful  style  of  its  execution, 
the  hazard  of  the  undertaking,  bold  as  it  was,  will  be  well  compensated  ;  and 
our  libraries  will  be  enriched  by  the  most  generally  useful  encyclopedic  diction- 
ary that  has  been  offered  to  the  readers  of  the  English  language.  Full  enough 
for  the  general  scholar,  and  plain  enough  for  every  capacity,  it  is  far  more  con- 
venient, in  every  view  and  form,  than  its  more  expensive  and  ponderous  prede- 
cessors " — American  Farmer. 

"The  high  reputation  of  the  contributors  to  this  work,  will  not  fail  to  insure 
it  a  favorable  reception,  and  its  own  merits  will  do  the  rest."— Silliman's  Jourv. 

"  The  work  will  be  a  valuable  possession  to  every  family  or  individual  that 
can  afford  to  purchase  it ;  and  we  take  pleasure,  therefore,  in  extending  the 
knowledge  of  its  merits." — National  Intelligencer. 

"The  Encylopaedia  Americana  is  a  prodigious  improvement  upon  all  that  has 
gone  before  it ;  a  thing  for  our  country,  as  well  as  the  country  that  have  it  birth, 
to  be  proud  of ;  an  inexhausiible  treasury  of  useful,  pleasant,  and  familiar  learn- 
ing on  every  possible  subject,  so  arranged  as  to  be  speedily  and  safety  referred  to 
on' emergency,  as  well  as  on  deliberate  inquiry;  and  better  still,  adapted  to  the 
understanding,  and  put  within  the  reach  of  the  multitude.  *  *  *  The  Ency- 
clopcPdia  Americana  i.s  a  work  without  which  no  library  worthy  of  the  name 
can  hereafter  be  made  up." — Yankee. 


CABII^ET  €\€I.OrJEmA, 

CONDUCTED  BY  THE 

REV.  DIONYSIUS  LARDNER,  LL.D.  F.R  S.  I..&,.E. 
M.R.r.  A.  F.L.S.  F.Z.S.  Hon.F.  C.  P.  S.  M.  Ast.  S.  &c.  &c. 

ASSISTED  BY 

EMINENT  LITERARY  AND  SCIENTIFIC  MEN. 


Now  Publishing  by  Carey,  Lea,  ^  Blanchard^  and  for  sale  by  all  Iit,ok$ellers 

This  work  will  form  a  popular  compendium  of  whatever  i«  'iseful,  insiructive, 
and  interesting,  in  the  circle  of  human  knowledge.  A  novel  plan  of  publication 
and  arrangement  has  been  adopted,  which  presents  peculiar  advantages.  With- 
out fully  detailing,'  the  method,  a  few  of  these  advantaees  may  be  mentioned. 

Each  volume  will  contain  one  or  more  subjects  uninterrupted  and  unbroken, 
and  will  be  accompanied  by  the  corresponding  plates  or  other  appropriate  illus- 
trations. Facility  of  reference  will  be  obtained  without  fettering  the  work  by 
a  continued  alphabetical  arrangement.  A  subscriber  may  omit  particu!ar  vol- 
umes or  sets  of  volumes,  without  disintegrating  his  series.  Thus  each  purchaser 
may  form  from  the  -'Cabinet"  a  Cyclopjedia,  more  or  less  comprehensive,  as 
may  suit  his  means,  taste,  or  profession.  If  a  subscriber  desire  to  discontinue 
the  work  at  any  stage  of  its  publication,  the  volumes  which  he  may  have  re- 
ceived will  not  lose  their  value  by  separation  from  the  rest  of  the  work,  since 
they  will  always  either  be  complete  in  themselves,  or  may  bs  made  so  at  a  trifling 
expense. 

The  purchasers  will  never  find  their  property  in  this  work  destroyed  by  the 
publication  of  a  second  edition.  The  arrangement  is  such  tiiat  particular  vol- 
umes may  be  re  edited  or  re-written  without  disturbing  the  others.  The  "Cabi- 
net CyclopjEDIa '■  will  thus  be  in  a  state  of  continual  renovation,  keeping  pace 
with  the  never-ceasing  improvements  in  knowledge,  drawing  within  its  circle 
from  year  to  year  whatever  is  new,  and  casting  oft' whatever  is  obsolete,  so  as  to 
form  a  constantly  modernized  Cycloptedia.  Such  are  a  few  of  the  advantages 
which  the  proprietors  have  to  offer  to  the  public,  and  which  they  pledge  them- 
selves to  realize. 

Treatises  on  subjects  which  are  technical  and  professional  will  be  adapted, 
not  so  much  to  those  who  desire  to  attain  a  practical  proficiency,  as  to  those 
who  seek  that  portion  of  information  respecting  such  matters  which  is  generally 
expected  from  well-educated  persons.  An  interest  will  be  imparted  to  what  is 
abstract  by  copious  illustrations,  and  the  sciences  will  be  rendered  attractive,  by 
treating  them  with  reference  to  the  most  familiar  objects  and  occurrences. 

The  unwieldly  bulk  of  Encyclopaedias,  not  less  than  the  abstruse  discussions 
which  they  contain,  has  hitherto  consigned  them  to  the  library,  as  works  of  only 
occasional  reference.  The  present  work,  from  its  portable  form  and  popular  style, 
will  claim  a  place  in  the  drawing-room  and  the  boudoir.  Forming  in  itself  a 
Complete  Library,  affording  an  extensive  and  infinitely  varied  store  of  instruc- 
tion and  amusement,  presenting  just  so  much  on  every  subject  as  those  not  pro 
fessionally  engaged  in  it  require,  convenient  in  size,  attractive  in  form,  elegant 
in  illustrations,  and  most  moderate  in  expense,  the  "Cabinet  Cyclopaedia."  will, 
it  is  hoped,  be  found  an  object  of  paramount  interest  in  every  family. 

To  the  heads  of  schools  and  all  places  of  public  education  the  proprietors  trust 
that  this  work  will  particularly  recommend  itself. 

It  seems  scarcely  necessary  to  add,  that  nothing  will  be  admitted  into  the 
pages  of  the  "  Cabinet  Cyclop^:dia"  which  can  have  the  most  remote  tendency 
to  offend  public  or  private  morals.  To  enforce  the  cultivation  of  religion  and 
the  practice  of  virtue  should  be  a  principal  object  with  all  who  undertake  to 
inform  the  public  mind  ;  but  with  the  views  just  explained,  the  conductor  of  this 
work  feels  these  considerations  more  especially  pressed  upon  his  attention. 
Parents  and  guardians  may,  therefore,  rest  assured  that  they  will  never  find  it 
necessary  to  place  a  volume  of  the  "  Cabinet  "  beyond  the  reach  of  their  children 
or  pupils. 


LARDNER  S  CABINET  CYCLOPAEDIA. 


"  IT  IS  NOT  EASY  TO  DEVISE  A  CURE  FOR  SUCH  A  STATE  OF  THINGS  (tHE  DE- 
CIININO  TASTE  FOR  SCIENCE;)  BUT  THE  MOST  OBVIOUS  REMEDY  IS  TO  PROVIDE 
THE  EDUCATED  CLASSES  WITH  A  SERIES  OF  WORKS  ON  POPULAR  AND  PRACTI- 
CAL SCIENCE,  FREED  FROM  MATHEMATICAL  SYMBOLS  AND  TECHNICAL  TERMS, 
WRITTEN  IN  felMPLE  AND  PERSPICUOUS  LANGUAGE,  AND  ILLUSTRATED  BY  FACTS 
AND  EXPERIMENTS,  WHICH  ARE  LEVEL  TO  THE  CAPACITY  OF  ORDINARY  MINDS." 

Quarterly  Review. 


PRELIMINARY  DISCOURSE  ON  THE  OBJECTS,  ADVAN- 
TAGES, AND  PLEASURES  OF  THE  STUDY  OP  NATU- 
RAL, PHILOSOPHY.  By  JT.  T.  \V.  Hcrschel,  A.  M.  late  Fel- 
low of  St.  Jolin's  College,  Cambridge. 

"  Without  disparaging  any  other  of  the  many  interesting  and  instructive  vol- 
umes issued  in  the  form  of  cabinet  and  family  libraries,  it  is,  perhaps,  not  too 
much  to  place  at  the  head  of  the  list,  for  extent  and  variety  of  condensed  infor- 
mation, Mr.  Ilerchel's  discourse  of  Natural  Philosophy  in  Dr.  Lardiier's  Cyclo- 
paedia."—  Christian  Observer. 

"  The  finest  work  of  philosophical  genius  which  this  age  has  seen." — Mackin- 
tosh's England. 

"By  far  the  most  delightful  book  to  which  the  existing  competition  bet-veen 
literary  rivals  of  great  talent  and  enterprise  has  given  rise." — Monthly  Review. 

"  Mr.  Herschel's  delightful  volume.  *  *  *  We  find  scattered  through  the 
work  instances  of  vivid  and  happy  illustration,  where  the  fancy  is  usefully  called 
into  action,  so  as  sometimes  to  remind  us  of  the  splendid  pictures  which  crowd 
upon  us  in  the  style  of  Bacon." — Quarterly  Review. 

"  It  is  the  most  exciting  volume  of  the  kind  we  ever  met  with." — Monthly 
Magazine. 

"  One  of  the  most  instructive  and  delightful  books  we  have  ever  perused."— 
U.  S.  Journal. 


A.  TREATISE  ON  MECHANICS.    By  Capt.  Kater,  and  the 
Rev.  Dioiiysius  Lardner.   Witli  numerous  engravings. 

I  "A  work  which  contains  an  uncommon  amount  of  useful  information,  ex- 
hibited in  a  plain  and  very  intelligible  form." — Olmsted's  J^Tat.  Philosophy. 

"  This  volume  has  been  lately  published  in  England,  as  a  part  of  Dr.  Lardner's 
Cabinet  Cyclopfedia,  and  has  received  the  unsolicited  approbation  of  the  most 
eminent  men  of  science,  and  the  most  discriminating  journals  and  reviews,  in 
the  British  metrnpolis.— It  is  written  in  a  popular  and  intelligible  style,  entirely 
free  from  mathematical  symbols,  and  disencumbered  as  far  as  possible  of  tech; 
nical  phrases." — Boston  Traveller. 

"  Admirable  in  development  and  clear  in  principles,  and  especially  felicitous  in 
illustration  from  familiar  subjects." — Monthly  Mag. 


OUTLINES  OF  HISTORY,  from  the  earliest  period  to  the 
present  time. 


A  TREATISE  ON  HYDROSTATICS   AND  PNEUMATICS. 
By  tlie  Rev.  D.  Lardner.   AVitli  numerous  engravings. 

"  It  fully  sustains  the  favorable  opinion  we  have  already  expressed  as  to  this 
valuable  compendium  of  modern  science." — Lit.  Gazette. 

"  Dr.  T.ardner  has  made  a  good  use  of  his  acqualniai-ce  with  the  familiar  facts 
which  illustrate  the  principles  of  science." — Monthly  Magazine. 

"It  is  written  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  subject,  and  in  a  popular  stylo, 
abounding  in  practical  illustrations  of  the  abstruse  operations  of  these  impor- 
tant sciences."— J7.  -S.  Journal. 


LARDNER'S  CABINET  CYCLOPEDIA. 


HISTORY  OP  ENGIiAND.   By  Sir  .Tames  Macktntosli.  In 
8  Vols.   Vols.  1,  »  and  3  published. 

"In  the  first  volume  of  Sir  James  Mackintosh's  History  of  England,  we 
find  enough  to  warrant  the  anticipations  of  the  public,  that  a  calm  and  lumin- 
ous philosophy  will  diffuse  itself  over  the  long  narrative  of  our  British  His- 
tory."— Edinburgh  Review. 

"  In  this  volume  Sir  James  Mackintosh  fully  developes  those  great  powers, 
for  the  possession  of  which  the  public  have  long  given  him  credit.  The  result 
is  the  ablest  commentary  that  has  yet  appeared  in  our  language  upon  some 
of  the  most  important  circumstances  of  English  History." — Jitlas. 

"Worthy  in  the  method,  style,  and  reflections,  of  the  author's  high  reputa- 
tion. We  were  particularly  pleased  with  his  high  vein  of  philosophical  sen- 
timent, and  his  occasional  survey  of  contemporary  annals." — JVat.  Oazetie. 

"  If  talents  of  the  highest  order,  long  experience  in  politics,  and  years  of 
application  to  the  study  of  history  and  the  collection  of  information,  can  com- 
mand superiority  in  a  historian,  Sir  James  Machintosh  may,  without  reading 
this  work,  be  said  to  have  produced  the  best  history  of  this  country.  A  peru- 
sal of  the  work  will  prove  that  those  who  anticipated  a  superior  production, 
have  not  reckoned  in  vain  on  the  high  qualifications  of  the  author." — Courier. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  NETHERIi  ANDS,  to  the  Battle  of 
Waterloo.   By  T.  C.  Grattaii. 

"  It  is  but  justice  to  Mr.  Grattan  to  say  that  he  has  executed  his  laborious 
task  with  much  industry  and  proportionate  effect.  Undisfrgured  by  pompous 
nothingness,  and  without  any  of  the  affectation  of  philosophical  profundity, 
his  style  is  simple,  light,  and  fresh— perspicuous,  smooth,  and  harmonious,"— 
La  Belle  Assemblee. 

"  Never  did  work  appear  at  a  more  fortunate  period.  The  volume  before  us 
is  a  compressed  but  clear  and  impartial  narrative."— Z,i«.  Gaz. 


HISTORY  OP  PRANCE.  By  Eyre  Evans  Crowe.  In  3  vols. 

"  His  history  of  France  is  worthy  to  figure  with  the  works  of  his  associates, 
the  best  of  their  day,  Scott  and  Mackintosh."— Jlfont/t/y  Mag. 

"  For  such  a  task  Mr.  Crowe  is  eminently  qualified.  At  a  glance,  as  it  were, 
his  eye  takes  in  the  theatre  of  centuries.  His  style  is  neat,  clear,  and  pithy; 
and  his  power  of  condensation  enables  him  to  say  much,  and  eflTectively,  In  a 
few  words,  to  present  a  distinct  and  perfect  picture  in  a  narrowly  circum- 
scribed space." — La  Belle  ^ssemblee. 


HISTORY  OP  SCOTLAND.  By  Sir  Walter  Scott.  In  3  Vols. 

"  The  History  of  Scotland,  by  Sir  Walter  Scott,  we  do  net  hesitate  to  de- 
clare, will  be,  if  possible,  more  extensively  read,  than  the  most  popular  work 
of  fiction,  by  the  same  prolific  author,  and  for  this  obvious  reason  :  it  com- 
bines much  of  the  brilliant  coloring  of  the  Ivanhoe  pictures  of  by-gone  man- 
ners, and  all  the  graceful  facility  of  style  and  picturesqueness  of  description 
of  his  other  charming  romances,  with  a  minute  fidelity  to  the  facts  of  history, 
and  a  searching  scrutiny  into  their  authenticity  and  relative  value,  which 
might  put  to  the  blush  Mr.  Hume  and  other  professed  historians.  Such  is  the 
magic  charm  of  Sir  Walter  Scott's  pen,  it  has  only  to  touch  the  simplest  inci- 
dent of  every-day  life,  and  it  starts  up  invested  with  all  the  interest  of  a  scene 
of  romance;  and  yet  such  is  his  fidelity  to  the  text  of  nature,  that  the  knights 
and  serfs,  and  collared  fools. with  whom  his  inventive  genius  has  peopled  so 
many  volumes,  are  regarded  by  us  as  not  mere  creations  of  fancy,  but  as  real 
flesh  and  blood  existences,  with  all  the  virtues,  feelings  and  errors  of  com- 
mon-place humanity." — Lit.  Gazette. 


LARDNER  S  CABINET  CYCL0P^:DIA. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RISE,  PROGRESS,  and  PRESENT 
STATE  OF  THE  SILK  MANUFACTURE ;  with  numerous 
engravings. 

"It  contains  abundant  information  in  every  department  of  this  interesting 
branch  of  human  industry — in  the  history,  culture,  and  manufacture  of  silk." — 
Monthly  Magazine. 

"  There  is  a  great  deal  of  curious  information  in  this  little  volume." — Lit.  Oaz. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  ITALIAN  REPUBLICS;  being  a  View  of 
the  Rise,  Progress,  and  Fall  of  Italian  Freedom.  By  J.  C.  L. 
De  Sismondi. 

"The  excellencies,  defects,  and  fortunes  of  the  governments  of  the  Italian 
commonwealths,  form  a  body  «f  the  most  valuable  materials  for  political  phi- 
losophy. It  is  time  thiit  they  should  be  accessible  to  the  American  people,  as 
they  are  about  to  be  rendered  in  Sismondi's  masterly  abridgment.  He  has  done 
for  his  large  work,  what  Irving  accomplislied  so  well  for  his  Life  of  Columbus." 
— JVational  Gazette. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  RISE,  PROGRESS,  and  PRESENT 
STATE  OF  THE  MANUFACTURES  ©f  PORCELAIN  and 
GLASS.    With  numerous  Wood  Cuts. 

"  In  the  design  and  execution  of  the  work,  the  author  has  displayed  consider- 
able judgment  and  skill,  and  has  so  disposed  of  his  valuable  materials  as  to  ren- 
der the  book  attractive  and  instructive  to  the  general  cla.ss  of  readers." — Sat. 
Evening  Pest. 

"  The  author  has,  by  a  popular  treatment,  made  it  one  of  the  most  interesting 
books  that  has  been  issued  of  this  series.  There  are,  we  believe,  few  of  the 
useful  arts  less  generally  understood  than  those  of  porcelain  and  glass  making. 
These  are  completely  illustrated  by  Dr.  Lardner,  and  the  various  processes  of 
forming  differently  fashioned  utensils,  are  fully  described." 

BIOGRAPHY  OF  BRITISH  STATESMEN;  containing  the 
Lives  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  by  Sir  James  Mackintosh  ; 
Cardinal  Wolsey,  Archbishop  Cranmer,  and  Lord  Burleigh. 

"  A  very  delightful  volume,  and  on  a  subject  likely  to  increase  in  interest 
as  it  proceeds.  *  *  *  We  cordially  commend  the  work  both  for  its  design  and 
execution." — London  Lit.  Gazette. 

The  HISTORY  of  SPAIN  and  PORTUGAL.    In  5  vols. 

"  A  general  History  of  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  Peninsula,  \?.  a  great  de- 
sideratum in  our  language,  and  we  are  glad  to  see  it  begun  under  such  favorable 
auspices.  We  have  seldom  met  with  a  narrative  which  fixes  attention  more 
steadily,  and  bears  the  reader's  mind  along  more  pleasantly." 

"  In  the  volumes  before  us,  there  is  unquestionable  evidence  of  c.apacity  for 
the  task,  and  re.=earcli  in  the  execution." — U.  S.  Jovrval. 

"  Of  course  this  work  can  be  but  an  abridgment;  but  we  know  not  wlipre  so 
much  ability  has  been  rhown  in  condensation.  It  is  unetjualled,  and  likely 
long  to  rernain  so.  **  We  were  convinced,  on  the  publication  of  the  first  vol 
ume,  that  it  was  no  common  compilation,  manufactured  to  order  ;  we  were  pre 
pared  to  announce  it  as  a  very  valuable  addition  ta  our  literature.  ***  Our 
last  words  must  be,  heartily  to  recommend  it  to  our  re<aders." — Jlthevo'um. 

HISTORY  OF  SWITZERLAND. 

"Like  the  preceding  liistorical  numbers  of  tliis  valuable  publication,  ii 
abounds  with  interesting  details,  illustrative  of  the  habits,  character,  and  polit 
ical  complexion  of  the  people  and  country  it  describes  ;  and  aflbrds,  in  the  small, 
Pl)ace  of  one  volume,  a  digest  of  all  the  important  facts  which,  in  more  claborattJ 
histories,  occupy  five  times  the  space."— JLY-c/u't!^  Post.  I 


CABINET  LIBRARY. 


No.  1.— NARRATIVE  OF  THE  LATE  WAR  IN  GER- 
MANY AND  FRANCE.  By  the  Marquess  of  London- 
derry.   With  a  Map. 

No.  2.— JOURNAL  of  a  NATURALIST,  with  plates. 

No.  3.— AUTOBIOGRAPHY  of  SIR  WALTER  SCOTT. 
With  a  portrait. 

No.  4.— MEMOIRS  of  SIR  WALTER  RALEGH.    By  Mrs. 

A.  T.  Thomson. 
No.  5.— life  of  BELISARIUS.    By  Lord  Mahon. 
BIILITARY  MEMOIRS  of  the  DUKE  of  WELLINGTON. 
By  Capt.  Moyle  Sherer,  Author  of  Recollections  of  the 
Peninsula.    In  2  vols.  ISmo. 

"  The  tone  of  feeling  and  reflection  wiiich  pervades  the  work  is  in  the  char- 
acteristic mood  of  the  writer,  considerate,  ardent,  and  chivalrous;  his  princi- 
ples, as  might  be  expected,  are  sound  and  independent,  and  his  language  is 
frequently  rich  in  those  beauties  which  distinguisii  his  previous  writings.  To 
us  it  appears  a  work  which  will  not  discredit  its  illustrious  subject."— t/nitcd 
Service  Jo-nrnal. 


GLEANINGS  in  NATURAL  HISTORY,  being  a  Companion 
to  the  Journal  of  a  Naturalist. 

"The  Cabinet  Library  bids  fair  to  be  a  series  of  great  value,  and  is  recom- 
mended to  public  and  private  libraries,  to  professional  men,  and  miscellaneous 
readers  generally.  It  is  beautifully  printed,  and  furnished  at  a  price  which  will 
place  it  within  the  reach  of  all  classes  of  society." — American  Traveller. 

"The  series  of  instructive,  and,  in  their  original  form,  expensive  works, 
which  these  enterprising  publishers  are  now  issuing  under  the  title  of  the 
"Cabinet  Library,"  is  a  fountain  of  useful,  and  almost  universal  knowledge; 
the  advantages  of  which,  in  forming  the  opinions,  tastes  and  manners  of  that 
portion  of  society,  to  which  this  varied  iii/ormation  is  yet  new,  cannot  be  too 
liighly  estimated." — JVational  Journal. 

"  Messrs.  Carey  and  Lea  Iiave  commenced  a  series  of  publications  under  the 
above  title,  whicli  arc  to  appear  monthly,  and  which  seem  likely,  from  the  spe- 
cimen before  us,  to  acquire  a  high  degree  of  popularity,  and  to  afford  a  mass  of 
various  information  and  "rich  entertainment,  at  once  eminently  useful  and 
strongly  attractive.  The  mechanical  execution  is  fine,  the  paper  and  typography 
excellent." — JVashville  Banvcr. 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  T^PE  OP  SIR  WAI.TER  RAL.EGH, 
witJi  some  Accoiiiit  of  tlie  Period  in  wliicli  lie  lived.  By 
MRS.  A.  T.  THOMSON.   Witli  a  Portrait. 

"Such  is  tlie  outline  of  a  life,  which,  in  Mrs.  7'homson's  hands,  is  a  mine  of 
I'nterest :  from  the  first  page  to  the  l.nst  the  attention  is  roused  and  sustained, 
and  while  we  approve  the  manner,  we  still  more  applaud  the  spirit  in  which  it 
is  executed." — Literary  Gazette. 


JOURNAIi  OF  A  NATURAIilST.   Witli  Plates. 

 Plants,  trees,  and  s-lones  we  Dote ; 

Birds,  insects,  beasts,  and  rural  things. 
"We  agfiin  most  strongly  recommend  tliis  little  unpretending  volume  to  the 
attention  of  every  lover  of  nature,  and  niore  particularly  of  our  country  read- 
ers. It  will  induce  them,  we  are  sure,  to  e.xaniine  more  closely  than  they  have 
been  accustomed  to  do,  into  the  objects  of  animated  nature,  aitd  such  examina- 
tion will  prove  one  of  the  most  innocent,  and  the  most  satisfactory  sources  of 
gratification  and  amusement.  It  is  a  book  that  ouglit  to  find  its  way  into  every 
rural  drawing-room  in  the  kingdom,  and  one  that  may  safely  be  placed  in  every^ 
lady's  boudoir,  be  her  rank  and  station  in  life  what  they  may." — Quarterly  Re- 
view, No.  LXXVIII. 

"  We  think  that  there  are  few  readers  who  will  not  be  delighted  (we  arc  cer- 
tain all  will  be  instructed)  by  the  'Journal  of  a  Naturalist.'" — Monthly  Review. 

"This  is  a  most  delightful  book  on  the  most  delightful  of  all  studies.  We  are 
acquainted  with  no  previous  work  which  l)ears  any  resemblance  to  this,  except 
'White's  History  of  Selborne,'  the  most  fascinating  piece  of  rural  writing  and 
sound  English  piiiloscphy  that  ever  issued  from  the  piess." — Athcnccuvi. 

"  The  author  of  the  volume  now  before  us,  has  produced  one  of  the  most 
charming  volumes  we  remember  to  have  seen  for  a  long  time."— JVczrJI/oniA- 
ly  Magazine,  June,  1829. 

"  A  delightful  volume— perhtps  the  most  so — nor  less  instructive  and  amusing 
— given  to  Natural  History  since  White's  Selborne." — Blackwood's  Magazine. 

"  The  Journal  of  a  Naturalist,  being  the  second  number  of  Carey  and  Lea's 
beautiful  edition  of  the  Cabinet  Library,  is  the  best  treatise  on  subjects  con- 
nected with  this  train  of  thought,  that  wc  have  for  a  long  time  perused,  and  we 
are  not  at  all  surpris(;d  that  it  should  have  received  so  high  and  flattering  enco- 
miums from  the  English  press  generally." — Boston  Traveller. 

"Furnishing  an  interesting  and  familiar  account  of  the  various  objects  of 
animated  nature,  but  calculated  to  afford  both  instruction  and  entertainment." 
— JsTashville  Banner. 

"One  of  the  most  agreeable  works  of  its  kind  in  the  language." — Courier  de 
la  Louisiane. 

"It  abounds  with  numerous  and  G&rious  facts,  pleasing  illustrations  of  the 
secret  operations  and  economy  of  nature,  and  satisfactory  displays  of  the  power, 
wisdom  and  goodness,  of  the  great  Creator." — Philad.  Album. 


THE  MARaUESS  OF  LONDONOERRY'S  NARJRATIVE  OF 
THE  liATE  WAR  IN  GERMANY  AND  FRANCE.  With  a 
Map. 

"  No  history  of  the  events  to  which  it  relates  can  be  correct  without  reference 
to  its  statements."— Liierary  Gazette. 

"  The  events  detailed  in  this  volume  cannot  fail  to  excite  an  intense  interest." 
— Dublin  Literary  Oazctte. 

"The  only  connected  ami  well  authenticated  account  we  have  of  the  spirit- 
stirring  scenos  which  preceded  the  fall  of  Napoleon.  It  introduces  us  into  the 
cabinets  and  presence  of  the  allied  monarchs.  We  observe  the  secret  policy  of 
each  individual :  we  see  the  course  pursued  by  the  wily  Bernadolte,  the  tempo- 
rizing Metternich,  and  the  ambitious  Alexander.  The  work  deserves  a  place  in 
every  historical  library." — Globe. 

"  We  hail  with  pleasure  the  appearance  of  the  first  volume  of  the  Cabinet 
Library."  "  The  author  had  singular  facilities  for  obtaining  the  materials  of 
his  work,  and  lie  has  introduced  us  to  the  movements  and  nitasures  of  cabinets 
which  have  iuilie;rro  been  hidden  from  the  world." — Jlmerican  Traveller. 

"  It  n^ay  be  r^rgarded  as  the  most  authentic  of  all  the  publications  which  pro- 
fess to  detail  the  events  of  the  inipurtaHt  campaigns,  terminating  with  thai 
which  secured  the  capture  of  the  French  metropolis." — JVat.  Journal. 

"  It  is  in  fact  the  only  authentic  account  of  the  memorable  events  to  which 
it  refers." — J\''askvillc  Banner. 

"  The  work  deserves  a  place  in  every  Uhrairy.''— Philadelphia  Album. 


VOYAGES  AND  ADVENTURES  of  the  COMPANIONS  of 
COLUMBUS.  By  Washington  Irving,  Author  of  the  Life 
of  Columbus,  &c.  1  vol.  8vo. 

"  Of  the  main  work  we  may  repeat  that  it  possesses  the  value  of  important 
history  and  the  magnetism  of  romantic  adventure.  It  sustains  in  every  respect 
the  reputation  of  Irving."  "  We  may  Jiopo  that  the  gifted  autlior  will  treat  in  like 
manner  the  enterprises  and  exploits  of  I'izarro  and  Cortes  ;  and  thus  complete  a 
series  of  elegant  recitals,  which  will  contrihute  to  the  especial  gratification  of 
Americans/and  form  an  imperishable  fund  of  delightful  instruction  for  all  ages 
and  countries."— JVai.  Gazette. 

"As  he  leads  us  from  one  savage  tribe  to  another,  as  he  paints  successive 
scenes  of  heroism,  perseverance  and  self-denial,  as  he  wanders  among  the  mag- 
nificent scenes  of  nature,  as  he  relates  with  scrupulous  fidelity  the  errors,  and 
the  crimes,  even  of  those  whose  lives  are  for  the  most  part  marked  with  traits 
to  command  admiration,  and  perhaps  esteem — everywhere  we  find  him  the  same 
undeviating,  but  beautiful  moralist,  gatiiering  from  every  incident  some  lesson 
to  present  in  striking  language  to  the  reason  and  the  heart." — ^im.  Quarterly 
Review. 

"  This  is  a  delightful  volume;  for  the  preface  truly  says  that  the  expeditions 
narrated  and  springing  out  of  the  voyages  of  Columbus  may  be  compared  with 
attempts  of  adventurous  knights-errant  to  achieve  the  enterprise  left  unfinished 
by  some  illustrious  predecessors.  Washington  Irving's  name  is  a  pledge  how 
well  their  stoi  ios  will  he  told  :  and  we  only~ regret  that  we  must  of  necessity  de- 
fer our  e.xtracts  for  a  week." — London  Lit.  Qazettc. 

A  CHRONICLE  of  the  CONQUEST  of  GRENADA.  By 
V^''ashington  Irving,  Esq.    In  2  vols. 

"On  the  whole,  this  work  will  sustain  the  high  fame  of  Washington  Irving. 
It  fills  a  blank  in  the  historical  library  which  ought  not  to  have  remained  so 
long  a  blank.  The  language  throughout  is  at  once  chaste  and  animated  ;  and 
the  narrative  may  be  said,  like  Spenser's  Fairy  Queen,  to  present  one  long  gal- 
lery of  s;»Iendid  pictures." — Land.  Lit.  Gazette. 

The  ALHAMBRA  ;  a  Series  of  Tales  and  Sketches  of  the  * 
Moors  and  Spaniards.  By  the  author  of  the  Sketch-Book.  Id  ' 
2  vols. 

"  We  have  read  a  part  of  Washington  Irving's  new  Sketch-Book,  the  scene 
of  which  is  in  Spain,  the  most  romantic  of  European  countries,  and'the  best 
known  by  the  gifted  author.  His  style  has  lost  nothing  of  its  peculiar  charm 
— his  descriptions  are  as  graphic  as  u.sual,  and  enlivened  with  racy  anecdotes 
and  happy  reflection.  We  shall  probably  soon  furnish  a  specimen  of  this 
work,  from  the  whole  of  which  we  expect  gratification." — JVat.  Gazette. 

Neux^ Editions  of  the  following  Works  hy  the  same  Author. 
The  sketch  BOOK,  2  vols.  12mo. 

KNICKERBOCKER'S  HISTORY  of  NEW  YORK,  revised 
and  corrected.    2  vols. 

BRACEBRIDGE  hall,  or  the  HUMORISTS,  2  vols.  12ino. 


TALES  OF  A  TRAVELLER,  2  vols.  12mo. 


SCOTT  a:^d  COOPEB.. 


BY  SIR  AV ALTER  SCOTT. 


COUNT  ROBERT  OF  PARIS,  a  Tale  of  the  Lower  Empire. 
By  the  Author  of  Waverley.    In  3  vols. 

"The  reader  will  at  once  perceive  that  the  subject,  the  characters  and  the 
scenes  of  action,  could  not  have  been  better  selected  for  the  display  of  the  vari- 
ous and  unequalled  powers  of  the  author.  All  that  is  plnnous  in  arts  and  pplen-  i 
did  in  arms— the  glitter  of  armor,  the  pomp  of  war,  and  the  splendor  of  chivalry  ' 
—the  gorgeous  scenery  of  the  Bosphurus— the  ruins  of  Byzantium — the  magnifi- 
cence of  the  Grecian  capital,  and  the  richness  and  voluptuousness  of  the  impe- 1 
rial  court,  will  rise  before  the  reader  in  a  succession  of  beautiful  and  dazzling 
images." — Commercial  Advertiser. 

AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  SIR  WALTER  SCOTT.    With  a 
Portrait. 

HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND,    In  2  vols. 

"  The  History  of  Scotland,  by  Sir  Walter  Scott,  we  do  not  hesitate  to  declare, 
will  be,  if  possible,  more  extensively  read,  than  the  most  popular  work  of  fiction, 
by  the  same  prolific  author,  and  for  this  obvious  reason:  it  combines  much  of  the 
brilliant  coloring  of  the  Ivanhoe  pictures  of  by  gonp manners,  and  all  the  grace- 
ful facility  of  style  and  picti.resqueness  of  description  of  his  other  charming  ro- 
mances, with  a  minute  fidelity  to  the  facts  of  history,  and  a  searching  scrutiny 
into  their  authenticity  and  relative  value,  which  inight  put  to  the  blush  Mr 
Hume  and  other  professed  historians.  Sucli  is  the  magic  charm  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott's  pen,  it  has  only  to  touchthe  simplest  incident  of  everyday  life,  and  it  starts 
up  invested  with  all  the  interest  of  a  scene  of  romance  ;  and  yet  sueli  is  his  fideli- 
ty to  the  te.xt  of  nature,  that  the  knights,  and  tens,  and  collared  fools  with  whom 
his  inventive  genius  has  peopled  so  many  volumes,  are  regarded  by  us  as  not 
mere  creations  of  fancy,  but  as  real  flesh  and  blood  existeucRs,  with  all  the  vir- 
tues, feelings  and  errors  of  common-place  humanity." — Lit.  Gazette. 

TALES  OF  A  GRANDFATHER,  being  a  series  from  French 
History.    By  the  Author  of  Waverley, 


BY  MR.  COOPER. 


THE  BRAVO.  By  the  Author  of  the  Spy,  Pilot,  &c.  In  2  vols. 

The  WATER- WITCH,  or  the  SKIMMER  of  the  SEAS. 

The  HEADSMAN,  or  the  ABBAYE  DES  VIGNERONS. 
In  2  vols.  12mo. 

The  HEIDENMAUER  ;  or  the  BENEDigTINES.  In  2  vols. 
New  Editions  of  the  following  Works  by  the  same  Author 

NOTIONS  OF  THE  AMERICANS,  by  a  Travelling  Bachelor, 
2  vols.  12mo. 

The  wept  OF  WISH-TON-WISH,  2  vols.  12ipo. 

The  red  ROVER,  2  vols.  12mo. 

The  spy,  2  vols.  12mo. 

The  pioneers,  2  vols.  12mo. 

The  pilot,  a  Tale  of  the  Sea,  2  vols.  12mo. 

LIONEL  LINCOLN,  or  the  LEAGUER  of  BOSTON,  2  vols. 

The  last  of  the  MOHICANS,  2  vols.  12mo. 

The  PRAIRIE,  2  vols.  12mo. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


The  ALHAMBRA;  a  Series  of  Tales  and  Sketches  of  tlie  Moors 
and  Spaniards.   By  t  he  author  of  the  Sketch-Book.   In  2  vols. 

"  We  have  read  a  part  of  Washington  Irving's  new  Sketch  Book,  the  scene  of 
which  is  Spain,  the  most  romantic  of  European  countries,  and  the  best  known 
by  the  gifted  author.  His  style  has  lost  nothing  of  its  peculiar  charm,— his  de- 
scriptions are  as  graphic  as  usual,  and  enlivened  with  racy  anecdotes  and  happy 
reflection.  We  shall  probably  soon  furnish  a  specimen  of  this  work,  from  the 
whole  of  which  we  expect  gratification." — JVat.  Oazette. 

The  bravo.  By  the  author  of  the  "Spy,"  "Pilot,"  "Red 
Rover,"  &;c.    In  2  vols.  12mo. 

"Let  us  honestly  avow  in  conclusion,  that  in  addition  to  the  charm  of  an 
interesting  fiction  to  be  found  in  these  pages,  there  is  more  mental  power 
in  them,  more  matter  that  sets  people  thinking,  more  of  that  quahty  that 
is  accelerating  the  onward  movement  of  the  world,  than  in  all  the  Scotch 
novels  that  have  so  deservedly  won  our  admiration." — New  Monthly  Mag. 

"This  new  novel  from  the  pen  of  our  countryman,  Cooper,  will  win  new 
laurels  for  him.  It  is  full  of  dramatic  interest — "  hair-bread ih  escapes" — 
animated  and  bustling  scenes  on  the  canals,  in  the  prisons,  on  the  Rialto, 
in  the  Adriatic,  and  in  the  streets  of  Venice." — A'^  Y.  Courier  ^  Enquirer. 

"  Of  the  w  hole  work,  we  may  confidently  say  that  it  is  very  able — a  per- 
formance of  genius  and  power." — Nat.  Gazette. 

"  The  Bravo  wall,  we  think,  tend  much  to  exalt  and  extend  the  fame  of 
its  author.  We  have  hurried  through  its  pages  with  an  avidity  which  must 
find  its  apology  in  the  interesting  character  of  the  incidents  and  the  very 
vivid  and  graphic  style  in  which  they  are  described." 

By  the  same  author. 

The  HEIDENMAUER,  or  Pagan  Camp.  In  2  vols. 

SALMONIA  ;  or.  Days  of  Fly  Fishing ;  by  Sir  H.  Davy. 

"  We  are  surprised,  in  meeting  with  an  American  reprint  of  this  delightful 
volume,  that  a  work  so  universally  popular  has  not  been  before  republished  in 
this  country."— JV*.  Y.  .American. 

"  One  of  the  most  delightful  labors  of  leisure  ever  seen  ;  not  a  few  of  the 
most  beautiful  phenomena  of  nature  are  here  lucidly  explained." — Oent.  Mag 

The  natural  HISTORY  of  SELBORNE.  By  the  late 
Rev.  Gilbert  White,  A.  M.,  Fellow  of  the  Oriel  College, 
Oxford,  with  add  itions,  by  Sir  William  Jardine,  Bart.  F.  R.  S. 
E.  F.  L  S.  M.  W.  S.,  author  of  "  Illustrations  of  Ornithology." 

"  '  White's  History  of  Selborne,'  the  most  fascinating  piece  of  rural  writing 
and  sound  English  philosophy  that  has  ever  issued  from  the  press." — Athenmum. 

The  mechanism  of  the  HEAVENS,  by  Mrs.  Somerville. 
In  18mo. 

"  We  possess  already  innumerable  discourses  on  Astronomy,  in  which  the 
wonders  of  the  jtteavens  and  their  laws  are  treated  of ;  but  we  can  say  most 
conscientiously  that  we  are  acquainted  with  none — not  even  La  Place's  own 
beautiful  expose  in  his  System  du  Monde, — in  which  all  that  is  essentially  inter- 
esting in  the  motions  and  laws  of  the  celestial  bodies,  or  which  is  capable  of 
popular  enunciation,  is  so  admirably,  so  graphically,  or  we  may  add,  so  un- 
affectedly and  simply  placed  before  us.  *  *  *  Is  it  asking  too  much  of  Mrs. 
Somerville  to  express  a  hope  that  she  will  allow  this  beautiful  preliminary 
Dissertation  to  be  printed  separately,  for  the  delight  and  instruction  of  thou- 
sands of  readers,  young  and  old,  who  cannot  understand,  or  are  too  indolent 
to  apply  themselves  to  ths  more  elaborate  parts  of  the  work  ?  If  she  will  do 
this,  we  hereby  promise  to  exert  our  best  endeavors  to  make  its  merits  known." 
— Literal^  Oazette. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


TOUR  OF  A  GERMAN  PRINCE,  (Puckler  Muskau,)  through 
the  Southern  and  Western  parts  of  England,  Wales,  Ireland, 
and  France.    In  8vo.    Second  American  edition. 

"  It  contains  the  least  prejudicerl  and  most  acute  notices  we  have  read  of  the 
habits  and  modes  of  thinking  of  Englishmen,  and  the  merits  and  defects  of  the 
country  and  society."— G/oie. 

CONVERSATIONS  with  LORD  BYRON  on  the  SUBJECT 
OF  RELIGION.    By  J.  I^ennedy,  M.  D.  12mo. 

GLEANINGS  in  NATURAL  HISTORY,  with  Local  Recol- 
lections. By  Edward  Jesse,  Esq.  To  which  are  added,  Maxims 
and  Hints  for  Anglers.    From  the  second  London  edition. 

"  A  work  that  will  be  fondly  treasured  by  every  true  lover  of  nature."— JVew 
Monthly  Mag. 

"  We  hazard  but  little  m  predicting  that  this  volume  will  be  a  favorite  with 
a  large  class  of  readers.  It  is  written  by  a  true  lover  of  nature,  and  one  who 
most  pleasantly  records  his  actual  observations." — Lit.  Gaz. 

The  DUCHESS  of  BERRI,  in  LA  VENDEE,  comprising  a 
Narrative  of  her  Adventures,  with  her  private  papers  and 
secret  correspondence,  by  General  Dermoncourt,  who  ar- 
rested her  royal  highness  at  Nantes.    In  1  vol.  12mo. 

[This  edition  exclusively  contains  the  important  documents  and  papers  which  would  have  led  to  the 
seizure  of  the  work  in  France,  had  they  been  published  there.] 

"  Upon  its  high  interest  we  need  not  enlarge  :  the  personal  adventures  of  the  princess,  her  joumeyingi 
on  foot  and  on  horseback,  in  disguise  and  in  her  own  character,  her  naental  and  bodily  sufferings,  her  hopes 
and  her  despair,  are  a  romance,  and  seem  to  belong  to  another  age.  They  recall  the  wanderings  and  the 
perils  of  our  own  Charles  Edward,  with  all  the  additional  interest  which  must  attach  to  the  daring  and 
the  suffering  of  a  woman." — Athenseum. 

The  economy  of  MACHINERY  and  MANUFACTURES. 
Bv  ChahEs  Babbage.  18mo. 

Of  the  many  publications  which  have  recently  is.sued  from  the  press,  calcu- 
lated to  give  a  popular  and  attractive  form  to  the  results  of  science,  we  look  upon 
this  volume  as  by  far  the  most  valuable.  Mr.  Babbage's  name  is  well  known 
in  connexion  with  the  general  subject  of  which  he  has  here  undertaken  to  treat. 
But  it  will  be  diflicult  for  the  reader  who  does  not  possess  the  volume  itself,  to 
understand  the  happy  style,  the  judgment  and  tact,  by  means  of  which  the  au- 
thor has  contrived  to  lend  almost  the  charm  of  romance  to  the  apparently  dry 
and  technical  theme  which  he  has  chosen." — Monthly  Rev. 

OUSELEVS  REMARKS  on  the  STATISTICS  and  POLITI- 
CAL INSTITUTIONS  of  the  UNITED  STATES. 

"  The  author  is  a  man  of  solid  sense,  friendly  to  this  country,  and  his  remarks 
have  the  value  and  interest  of  which  his  character  and  inquiries  authorized 
the  expectation." — Xational  Oazettc. 

TWO  YEARS  AND  A  HALF  IN  THE  NAVY,  or,  Journal 
of  a  Cruise  in  the  Mediterranean  and  Levant,  on  board 
the  U.  S.  Frigate  Constellation,  in  the  Years  1829,  1830, 
and  1831.    By  E.  C.  Wines.    In  2  vols.  12mo. 

"  The  author  is  a  gentleman  of  classical  education,  a  shrewd  observer,  a  lively 
writer,  whose  natural  manner  is  always  agreeable  ;  whose  various  matter  is 
generally  entertaining  and  instructive;  and  whose  descriptions  are  remarkably 
graphic.  The  greater  portion  of  his  pages  have  yielded  us  both  profit  and 
pleasure." — J^at.  Oaz. 


